Toxic tofu? How plastic waste from the west fuels food factories in Indonesia

A pile of plastic scraps, including imported waste, waiting to be burned as fuel at a tofu factory in Tropodo, Indonesia Photograph: Michael Nielson

Plastic waste from Australia, New Zealand, Japan, France, the US and Britain is being used to fuel tofu production in Indonesia, the Guardian has learned.

Five factory owners in an industrial village in East Java, and one environmental organisation told the Guardian that imported plastic is burned daily to fuel furnaces in factories that produce tofu, prompting concern about serious health impacts.