In Indonesia, Rivers Flow With Trash

With 9.8 billion plastic bags used every year, 9.3 million straws used every day and poor waste management, Indonesia’s pollution problem is getting dire.

Shamsul clears up about 500kg of trash every day from the Ciliwung river. Those to blame? The residents of metropolitan Jakarta who throw their trash in the rivers. Even those with Bachelor degrees do it, according to Shamsul. Styrofoam containers and single-use plastic waste are the most dangerous as they release toxic substances like heavy metals and benzene. These substances are absorbed by marine life like green mussels, ingested by humans when they eat them, and cause illnesses like cancer.

And this is only the tip of the iceberg. Indonesia’s 250 landfills are quickly running out of space, so waste is spilling into villages, sometimes carrying heavy metals and toxic substances into paddy fields that render crops barren.

WATCH the full episode of #UndercoverAsia here: https://cna.asia/3bc7DMH
ALSO WATCH: How foreign plastic trash was smuggled into Indonesia https://youtu.be/fDob8BOLuIo

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Видео In Indonesia, Rivers Flow With Trash канала CNA Insider