Countries along the Mekong River have become the world’s dumping ground for waste. Rubbish is finding its way into the water — killing marine animals and clogging up animals with plastic that are later eaten by humans. And it only got worse during the pandemic.
COVID-19 has caused plastic waste to surge in Southeast Asia, particularly with the widespread disposal of single-use face masks, takeaway food containers, and packaging from online shopping.
In April 2020, Bangkok’s daily average of 2,115 tonnes of single-use plastics waste per day grew to more than 3,400 tonnes a day. Lockdowns halted more than 80 percent of the recycling value chain in Southeast Asian countries such as the Philippines and Vietnam. Even before pandemic-driven waste, only nine percent of all plastic packaging was recycled and about 12 percent is incinerated. The remaining 79 percent accumulates in landfills, dumps and the natural environment.
