Environmental Dumping

What is environmental dumping?

• Environmental dumping can be defined as the transportation of waste to other
countries in order to get rid of it.

• Many countries, especially in the Western world, produce huge amounts of waste
and often do not want to deal with the disposal issue.

• Therefore, the waste is shipped to other countries where it is recycled or disposed.

• Environmental dumping implies several issues, especially for countries which receive
the waste since they will often not be able to deal with the excessive amounts of
waste properly.

• In this presentation, the extent, causes, effects and solutions regarding

environmental dumping are examined.
Extent of environmental dumping
• Most of the waste that is subject to environmental dumping comes from OECD
member states.

• It is estimated that OECD countries export waste related to ecological dumping

amounting to around five million tons each year.

• Although most of the waste is non-hazardous, a small fraction may be hazardous and
can cause serious environmental issues, especially in the states where it will finally
end up.
Causes for environmental dumping
• Excessive consumption
• Excessive waste production
• Packaging
• Industrial waste production
• Convenience
• Cheap disposal
• Cheap recycling
• Job opportunities for locals
• Tax revenue
• Political advantage
Excessive consumption
• A big cause for environmental dumping is our excessive consumption behavior.

• Especially in the Western world, people consume large amounts of material things
every day.

• Most of these things are actually just bringing little or no value at all regarding
peoples’ happiness level, yet everyone wants to have the hippest clothes and the
newest smartphone.

• However, this consumption behavior leads to the production of enormous amounts

of waste, from which we have to get rid somehow.

• An easy way to do so is to ship part of this waste to foreign countries where it can be
recycled or disposed instead of dealing with the waste in the respective waste
production country.
Excessive waste production
• In our daily life, we produce large amounts of waste.

• Since many products are excessively packaged into plastic or other packaging
material, plenty of unnecessary waste is produced each day.

• This is especially true when it comes to the use of delivery services.

• People who are ordering online will often send back a big fraction of their order,
which leads to enormous amounts of waste, both from packaging but also since the
things that are returned will often not be resold but rather disposed into the garbage
since it is often cheaper for companies to do so.

• Therefore, the excessive waste production also contributes to the environmental

dumping issue since the part of the waste will be shipped to other countries in order
to get rid of it.
Packaging
• Moreover, also the nature of the packaging itself often plays a crucial role for waste
production and the related issue of ecological dumping.

• Many of our daily life products are excessively packaged which leads to significant
amounts of waste.

• Moreover, a big fraction of this packaging is made out of plastic, which is often hard
to recycle and will therefore lead to significant levels of pollution since part of it may
end up in our oceans.
Industrial waste production
• Industrial processes and the related waste production are another big cause for the
environmental dumping issue.

• Since industries usually try to produce in a cost-minimizing manner, they do not care
to much about the amount of waste produced if they can keep their costs low.

• Thus, if waste disposal is quite cheap due to environmental dumping practices,

industries have no incentive to lower their waste production.
Convenience
• It is also quite convenient for countries to ship their waste to other countries instead
of dealing with the waste and the related issues themselves.

• Convenience may also play a role in the political discussion regarding environmental
dumping.

• It will often be easier for politicians to just leave the waste management processes
unchanged than to make efforts to change them, since there is always plenty of
lobbying activities in political decisions which will make it hard to make a stand
against the practice of environmental dumping.
Cheap disposal
• Another reason for environmental dumping is that it is often quite cheap to get rid of
the waste by shipping it to other countries compared to dealing with the waste in the
waste producing country.

• This is due to the fact that wages are usually quite low in the countries where the
waste is shipped to and locals often rely on their income from the waste
management processes.

• The low price regarding ecological dumping therefore is another cause for the
delivery of waste to other countries.
Cheap recycling
• Not only the disposal of waste in foreign countries usually is quite cheap, also the
recycling of materials will not be costly compared to the costs of recycling processes
in developed Western countries.

• This also increases the incentive for countries to engage in environmental dumping.
Job opportunities for locals
• Although there are several environmental issues related to the shipping of garbage to
foreign countries, there may also be an upside to it.

• People living in the waste-receiving countries may benefit from environmental

dumping since they often can make a better income compared to other conventional
jobs in their area.

• This gives people a big incentive to work in the waste shipping process.
Tax revenue
• Environmental dumping may also increase tax revenues for poor developing
countries significantly, which gives these countries a big incentive to continue to
manage the waste disposal for other countries since the additional tax revenue is
needed to build infrastructure and other important projects.
Political advantage
• Countries engaging in environmental dumping can also get a political advantage over
countries shipping their waste to the waste-receiving countries.

• The waste-receiving countries will get some political pressure since they may
threaten to refrain from accepting waste shipping to their countries.

• This would lead to severe issues for the Western world, since they may have
problems to deal with the huge amounts of waste by themselves.

• Thus, the Western world will be kind of dependent on the waste-receiving countries.
Effects of environmental dumping
• Ocean dumping
• Landfills
• Soil pollution
• Water pollution
• Air pollution
• Biodiversity loss
• Endangered species
• Illegal dumping
• Health issues
• Accidents
• Child labor
• Visual pollution
• Environmental degradation
Ocean dumping
• Environmental dumping will lead to a significant level of ocean dumping.

• Since countries are often overwhelmed by the sheer amount of waste that is shipped
to them, they will simply dispose some of this garbage into the ocean in order to get
rid of it.

• This is especially true for waste that has just low recycling value, which makes it even
more attractive to get rid of this kind of waste by dumping it into the ocean.
Landfills
• The number of landfills due to environmental dumping in the waste-receiving
countries is enormous.

• Since landfills in poor developing countries are often not set up properly, there may
be several environmental issues and pollution due to that.

• The level of pollution resulting from landfills usually increases with the number of
landfills that are operating.
Soil pollution
• Soil pollution can be a big problem that occurs when landfills are not set up properly
and when the waste related to environmental dumping is not processed in a safe
manner.

• Part of the waste disposed into landfills is hazardous or even toxic.

• If these toxic components enter the soil due to lacks in the landfills, they could
significantly pollute the soil.
Water pollution
• Environmental dumping can also lead to water pollution.

• Since part of the waste is not disposed properly but often just disposed into the
ocean in order to get rid of it, harmful or even toxic substances can enter the water
and pollute it.

• This may lead to severe issues for a variety of sea animals and plants, which may not
be able to adapt to the pollution levels and may therefore drop in population or
move to other locations in order to survive.
Air pollution
• Environmental dumping can indirectly lead to significant levels of air pollution, since
the waste-receiving countries often have lower standards regarding waste processing
and may burn a big part of it.

• However, burning material that is hazardous or even toxic may lead to the emission
of harmful gases into the air, including greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide which
also contribute to the global warming issue.
Biodiversity loss
• There may also be a significant level of biodiversity loss in the regions who are
literally drowning in waste.

• Since those regions may not be able to process all of the waste properly, a fraction of
the overall waste may be dumped into rivers, forests, lakes or the ocean.

• The animals and plants living in the respective areas will suffer from a significant
destruction of their natural living conditions, which may lead to a loss in biodiversity
since some of the species will not be able to adjust to the new conditions and may
die due to that.
Endangered species
• Environmental dumping not only may lead to biodiversity loss, but may even lead to
the endangerment of whole species or even to the extinction of some species.

• This is especially true when it comes to species that are only living in a few areas of
our planet.

• If these areas become polluted, these species may become extinct since they lose
their natural living conditions and may not be able to adapt to the new
environmental circumstances.
Illegal dumping
• In order to get rid of the large amounts of waste that are shipped to the waste-
receiving countries every day, illegal dumping practices are sometimes used since it is
often easier to dispose the waste into water bodies or forests instead of processing it
in a proper manner.

• This is especially true for waste that is of low recycling value since it is less profitable
for companies to process this type of waste compared to just disposing it in a cheap
manner.
Health issues
• There may also be significant health issues related to the practice of environmental
dumping.

• Many workers may not be equipped with proper safety gear in order to be protected
against harmful substances.

• Moreover, also the working conditions on landfills may be quite bad and the safety
standards quite low.

• Thus, the probability for injuries may be significantly higher for those workers
compared to other jobs.
Accidents
• There may be a number of potential accidents that can happen in the process of
shipping the waste from industrialized to developing countries.

• For instance, ships with large amounts of waste may sink due to storms and high
waves, which will lead to enormous water pollution due to toxic substances that will
enter the water.
Child labor
• Child labor is another issue related to environmental dumping.

• On the landfills and in the waste recycling process, many children are employed since
they have to financially support their family.

• However, working in the waste management process prevents these children from
attending school since they have to spend their time at their jobs instead.

• This in turn may lead to a low level of education for these children, which may trap
them in poverty when they turn into grownups.
Visual pollution
• Environmental dumping may also lead to significant levels of visual pollution.

• Since some countries are drowning in trash, these countries will have large areas
where the garbage is stored.

• Especially in these areas, the living quality might be quite bad due to the visual
pollution.

• Moreover, there may be plenty of smell in the affected areas, which further lowers
the quality of life for people living nearby.
Environmental degradation
• Since ecological dumping leads to several adverse environmental issues, it can also
be held accountable for the environmental degradation issue.

• In the long run, the shipping of waste from industrialized to poor developing
countries will likely not be sustainable since the environment will suffer too much
and alternatives and solutions to this issue have to be developed.
Solutions for environmental dumping
• Transnational prohibition of environmental dumping
• Increase the price for environmental dumping
• Avoid consumption
• Buy from organic food stores
• Avoid buying packaged items
• Refrain from using disposable plastic cups
• Use your food efficiently
• Reuse your material things
• Raise the awareness on the topic
• Education
• Convince family and friends
Transnational prohibition of environmental dumping
• One effective measure against environmental dumping would be to prohibit the
shipping of waste to other countries.

• By doing so, countries would have to set up processes to deal with their waste
themselves.

• This would countries give the incentive to take measures to avoid the overall waste
production.

• Moreover, the countries which are currently drowning waste will experience a relief
from the vast amounts of waste.

• This agreement for a prohibition of ecological dumping should be made on a global

scale so that most of the countries have an obligation to stick to it.
Increase the price for environmental dumping
• Another solution for the mitigation of the issue would be to increase the costs of
shipping trash to other countries.

• This could come in the form of higher tolls or also by increasing the price for every
ton of useless waste.

• This would make environmental dumping less attractive since it would become more
expensive to ship waste to foreign countries.
Avoid consumption
• Everyone of us can mitigate the environmental dumping issue by simply reducing and
avoiding unnecessary consumption.

• We consume all kinds of material things in our daily life that we actually do not need
just to impress other people.

• This has to stop in order to reduce the overall amounts of waste that are produced
on a global scale in order to mitigate the waste problem.
Buy from organic food stores
• Organic food stores often offer the option to by unpackaged food rather than food
packaged in plastic like in conventional food stores.

• Therefore, the amount of plastic waste that is produced each day can be lowered
dramatically through switching from conventional to organic food stores.
Avoid buying packaged items
• The waste production can also be significantly reduced by refraining from buying
items that are excessively packaged.

• Packaging material amounts to vast amounts of waste each year, since it is mostly
just used for a single time and then disposed into the garbage.

• Thus, it is crucial that we reduce the consumption of packaging material whenever

possible.
Refrain from using disposable plastic cups
• It is estimated that we use around 500 billion disposable plastic cups each year.
Imagine the amount of plastic waste that is produced due to this consumption
behavior.

• Part of this waste will be shipped to other countries which have to deal with the
issues related to that.

• In order to relief those countries, we should refrain from using disposable plastic
cups in our daily life and rather bring our own cups that can be used for several
refills.
Use your food efficiently
• In the food production process, plenty of work is carried out until the food finally ends up in our
grocery stores.

• However, plenty of food is dumped into the garbage can every day.

• This is due to the fact that people often thing the best-before date really means that after the
respective date, the food is not suitable for consumption anymore.

• However, this is not correct!

• The best-before date just gives a rough estimation on how long the respective food item will be
good for consumption.

• The food can also be suitable for consumption many days after the best-before date has been
passed.

• Thus, plenty of unnecessary food waste is produced each day which exacerbates the issue of
environmental dumping.

• Therefore, in order to relief foreign countries from drowning in waste, we have to use our food
more efficiently in order to reduce the amount of food waste.
Reuse your material things
• You should also try to reuse your material stuff in order to reduce waste.

• If you want to have the newest version of electronic devices, you can hand your old
version to your family members or friends.

• If you find no one who wants to use your old stuff, make sure that you separate your
waste in order to ensure that it can be recycled efficiently.
Raise the awareness on the topic
• In order to mitigate the issue, it is also crucial that we raise the awareness on the
topic and on the adverse effects related to the shipping of waste to other countries.

• Most of the population in Western countries are even not aware of the fact that their
trash is carried to other countries since our official media channels do not often talk
about this unpleasant topic.

• Therefore, it is crucial to raise the awareness and thus to increase the pressure on
politicians to take actions in order to solve the issues.
Education
• Education is key when it come to solving problems.

• This is also true for the issue of environmental dumping.

• We have to show our children how our waste is processed and how people in foreign
countries may suffer due to our waste production.

• By doing so, these children are more likely to avoid waste and may also convince
their parents about the importance of waste reduction.

• This will often lead parents to also make efforts to reduce the amount of waste they
produce.
Convince family and friends
• You should also try to convince your family and friends regarding the importance of
waste reduction in the context of environmental dumping.

• By showing these people the adverse consequences for the people living in foreign
countries, they are more aware to change their behavior in an environmentally-
friendly manner.
Conclusion
• Environmental dumping is a big issue that is not addressed enough in our nowadays
society and in our media.

• Many people in poor developing countries suffer from our consumption and waste
production behavior.

• Moreover, the shipping of waste to foreign countries also implies a variety of

environmental issues which have to be prevented in order to make our lifestyle more
sustainable.

• There are several measures politicians and also you in your daily life can take in order
to mitigate the issue and therefore to contribute to a livable future for the next
generations.
Sources
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_dumping

• https://www.unenvironment.org
/news-and-stories/press-release/bamako-convention-preventing-africa-becoming-
dumping-ground-toxic

• https://ec.europa.eu/environment/legal/crime/index.htm