Trash hurts cash: Environmental issues threaten economy
mental challenges plague neighbouring Southeast Asian countries.
Urban areas in Asean have driven regional growth but they have also generated rapidly growing mountains of waste.
Fast-growing economies and booming tourism throughout the region have wide-reaching effects. They bring an influx in instant foods and packaging, canned drinks, shopping bags and a rising tide of waste imports from the US and Europe. nomic toll and countries have started to pay the price.
When haze caused by slash-andburn fires dragged on in several Asean countries, the tourism industry and other businesses in Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia felt the pain.
Kasikorn Research Centre in Thailand estimated that the severe smog early this year would cost the country up to $200 million in healthcare costs and reduced tourist spending. nese policy of refusing imports of plastic waste from abroad.
The move set off international political rows. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte was determined to send 1,500 tonnes of waste back to Canada but the North American country refused to acknowledge the issue for years. The Philippines threatened to sever bilateral ties due to the dispute.
The incident is yet another example of how waste and pollution harm economies, cause public safety risks and even ignite conflicts that undermine diplomatic relations.
The crisis is not a problem of any single village, city or country, but the whole world.
The mountains of waste, marine plastic scraps and air pollution have been put on the agendas of regional and global summits, where world leaders have vowed to combat environmental challenges.
But progress on these commitments remains slow.
Addressing environmental issues is more urgent than ever, and it should be the priority of agencies at every level of the national government and international bodies.
As one of the biggest marine plastic polluters in the world, Vietnam should encourage green growth initiatives and seek sustainable solutions and green technologies to treat its urban waste once landfills reach capacity.
Environmental management agencies should issue a set of national standards on waste treatment to serve as foundation to assess the efficiency of new technologies.
Sorting rubbish at the source and imposing severe punishments on littering may seem like old ideas after being proposed many times at workshops and in the media, but the State needs to take steps to change behaviours that contribute to the crisis.
It is urgent that we turn words into action and make the fight against pollution a priority, and not just for the sake of the environment; there is no room for economic development if our city streets are covered in rubbish.
Once countries find a sustainable way out of the waste crisis, they can develop their tourism industries. Money will not be wasted on cleaning up pollution and treating the health problems it causes, but instead can be poured into infrastructure, industry and tourism to bring better returns.
Trash to cash: it is definitely possible if we take action now.