'Licence to hide': Western plastic waste dumped in Myanmar

Source: https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20231013-licence-to-hide-western-plastic-waste-dumped-in-myanmar

Author: AFP

For several years sites across Shwepyithar township have been filling up with trash that chokes fields, blocks the drainage of monsoon rains and causes fire risks. The trash is the runoff of global plastic production, which has more than doubled since the start of the century to reach 460 million tonnes per year. "In the past, during the rainy season I could pick watercress from this field to eat," one resident told AFP, asking not to be identified for security reasons.