Half of Indonesia’s plastic waste is simply burned in the open air — and a significant share of that plastic arrived from Europe, Australia, and North America under the guise of recyclable material.
After China banned imports of plastic waste in 2018 (having previously accepted 45% of the world’s plastic waste stream), shipments were redirected to Southeast Asia. Indonesia transformed from a plastic waste exporter into a net importer. According to estimates by the World Economic Forum, 48% of plastic waste in the country is burned in the open — either intentionally or through spontaneous fires at landfills.
Researchers compared satellite air-quality data with cargo ship tracking signals. Around major Indonesian landfills, concentrations of fine particulate matter increased by an average of 3.3% after 2018, reaching as much as 1.68 μg/m³ in some areas.
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