‘Up against a giant pile of garbage’

Despite environmental efforts, trash still big problem around the world

“We are burying the planet in waste, and this isn’t sustainable. Plastic pollution is particularly appalling. It’s becoming ubiquitous from the equator to the poles and the farthest reaches of the oceans. And much of it is simply unnecessary.” — Jonathan Overpeck, environment dean, University of Michigan

A group of wild elephants sift through garbage looking for food at a landfill in Sri Lanka. It’s a dangerous undertaking — around 20 elephants have died from consuming plastic trash from the landfill in the Ampara district over the last eight years.

A swan stands on a bank of the Danube River in Belgrade, Serbia, completely covered by plastic bottles and other solid waste.

And in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, a woman sells greens in front of a field of decomposing trash, some burning in piles.

“We are burying the planet in waste, and this isn’t sustainable,” said University of Michigan environment dean Jonathan Overpeck. “Plastic pollution is particularly appalling. It’s becoming ubiquitous from the equator to the poles and the farthest reaches of the oceans. And much of it is simply unnecessary.”

As people worldwide on Friday marked Earth Day, an annual commemoration going back to 1970, the vivid images of garbage provided a reminder of how much waste the planet still bears.

While conservation, environmental and recycling efforts have made strides, humans continue to generate a lot of trash, impacting animals, people and contributing to global warming.

Every year, 11.2 billion tons of solid waste is generated, and decay of the organic parts of such waste contribute to 5% of global greenhouse emissions every year, according to the United Nations Environmental Programme.

Garbage is found as deep as it is widespread: Biologists told the Associated Press earlier this year that plastic pollution is found in the “deepest ocean trenches” and the amount found in Earth’s oceans could rise for decades. The coronavirus pandemic has worsened the world’s plastic waste woes, research shows.

“Garbage may be at the boring, stinky end of the spectrum of environmental challenges. But eventually, nothing else gets solved when we are up against a giant pile of garbage,” said Chris Field, director of the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment.

(AP/Ebrahim Noroozi) Two Afghan children stand amid piles of garbage April 18 next to their home in Kabul, Afghanistan.

(File Photo/AP/Achala Pussalla) Wild elephants scavenge for food Jan. 6 at an open landfill in Pallakkadu village in Ampara district, about 130 miles east of the capital Colombo, Sri Lanka. Conservationists and veterinarians are warning that plastic waste in the open landfill in eastern Sri Lanka is killing elephants in the region. Around 20 elephants have died over the last eight years after consuming plastic trash in the dump. Examinations of the dead animals showed they had swallowed large amounts of nonbiodegradable plastic that is found in the garbage dump, wildlife veterinarian Nihal Pushpakumara said.

(File Photo/AP/Edmar Barros) A city worker collects trash from a street flooded by the waters of the Negro River on May 20 in downtown Manaus, Brazil.

(AP/Darko Vojinovic) A swan stands between dumped plastic bottles and waste April 18 at the Danube river in Belgrade, Serbia.

(File Photo/AP/Bruna Prado) A volunteer collects garbage June 5 from the banks of the Rodrigo de Freitas Lagoon marking World Environment Day in Rio de Janeiro.

(File Photo/AP/Rodrigo Abd) A woman selling greens waits for customers Sept. 22 in the Croix des Bosalles market in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The floor of the market is thick with decomposing trash.