On Waste in Asia. How Young Locals Are Making Progress
Waste management in Indonesia needs action. Should they follow in Europe’s footsteps? Or do it better?
Published in
10 min readFeb 3, 2020
After I gave a talk at Green School Bali about how to build a strong island economy, a young woman named Sheila came to me with a question about waste.
“People all burn their waste here in Indonesia. Or they throw it in the river. The government wants to act but gives no budget for it. Laws are made but not enforced. What can we do? I made a plan, but I feel so powerless…” — Sheila.
I tossed and turned it over in my brain and here are my thoughts. Yes, Asia has a waste problem and it’s getting worse every day. I see the river banks, the beaches, the roadsides. And my heart weeps.
When the night starts to fall, the fires are everywhere along the roads. I smell burning plastic. The smoke tickles…
