In a working-class district of Rangoon, piles of plastic stand in the middle of homes. Waste largely coming from the trash cans of Western countries, according to a recent survey which denounces large-scale trafficking. For several years, the Shwepyithar district, north of the Burmese economic capital, has seen mountains of plastic accumulate, covering fields, increasing the risk of fire and threatening the health of residents. “Previously, during the rainy season, I could pick watercress in this field for food,” a resident told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons. “Because of plastic waste, we can no longer eat watercress. Instead, there is a bad smell.” An investigation published this month by Lighthouse Reports, a collaborative editorial team, established that part of the waste dumped on this site came from Western countries. 
You can find, jumbled together, pots of Danone yogurt, packaging from the Polish cheese brand Spomlek, waste from British supermarkets from the German chain Lidl and packets of pasta from the Canadian group Unico.
Global production of plastic has more than doubled since the start of the century, reaching 460 million tonnes per year, saturating recycling capacities around the world and fueling trafficking.
The Shwepyithar waste arrived in Burma despite a law banning in principle all imports of plastic waste into the country, except packaging that is clean and ready for recycling. This measure was taken after China banned imports of used plastics in 2018, upending Western waste export channels.
Plastic waste accumulated in the Shwepyithar district of Yangon on the 11th October 2023. © AFP – STR
Several local recycling plants admitted that waste they could not process was often thrown away or burned, according to Lighthouse reports.
AFP interviewed several multinationals, whose product packaging was found in Burma, to ask them how they were able to achieve this.
Lidl said it regretted this situation. “All our plastic waste is processed in the United Kingdom and Lidl has a strict policy prohibiting the shipment of waste or recyclable materials” to Asia, the group said in a statement. “We are therefore naturally disappointed by this observation and will investigate.”
– Porous border –
If we do not know the exact route of the waste arriving in Burma, the investigation suggests that Thailand is a key passage.
A woman walks among accumulated plastic waste in the Shwepyithar district of Yangon on October 11, 2023. © AFP – STR
Nearly 7,500 tonnes of waste officially entered Burma in 2021, according to the latest data from United Nations, mainly from the neighboring kingdom.
But the 2,400 kilometer border between the two countries is extremely porous and poorly guarded, leaving the field open to traffickers.
“There is no control,” notes Willie Wilson, former vice-president of Interpol's pollution crimes working group, denouncing a real “fog.”
In July, the authorities Burmese authorities noted a difference of $1.639 billion between the value of waste that Thailand reported exporting to Burma and what the latter imported from Thailand.
This large discrepancy “could be caused by the illegal trade”, recognized the Burmese Committee for the Eradication of Illegal Trade.
Shwepyithar residents say most of the waste illegally dumped in their neighborhood comes from recycling plants in a nearby industrial zone.
Plastic waste accumulated in the Shwepyithar district of Yangon on the 11th October 2023. © AFP – STR
But protesting in a country ruled with an iron fist by a junta since the military coup of 2021 is risky.
A terrain of Shwepyithar, once used as a football field, has become a swamp of plastic waste, local residents deplore.
“I know it's not good in the long term,” a resident told AFP under condition of anonymity. “I don’t like it at all,” says a neighbor. “But we can't do anything.”
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