Southeast Asia’s Plastic Pollution Management Dilemma

ASEAN countries receive more than a quarter of the world’s plastic waste, with plastic pollution rising 30% in 2025 compared to 2020 in countries such as Malaysia and the Philippines due to a surge in garbage imports. Despite countermeasures taken by Indonesia, Vietnam and other countries to return “foreign garbage”, the problem of plastic leakage remains unabated due to inadequate domestic recycling facilities. Thailand plans to reduce marine litter by 70% by 2025, but a ban on single-use plastics has yet to be introduced and has been criticized by environmental groups for a “lack of substantive action”.