In low-income areas lacking waste management, plastic waste is increasingly burned as a fuel source, releasing toxic pollutants that pose serious health and environmental risks.
Sean Mowbray reports for Mongabay.
In short:
- About two billion people globally lack waste collection, leading many in the Global South to burn plastic for heat or cooking, exposing communities to harmful air pollutants.
- Imported plastic waste from wealthier countries often ends up in poorer regions where much of it is openly burned or used as industrial fuel, despite its toxic emissions.
- Studies link plastic burning to respiratory illness, cancer-causing dioxins, and significant contributions to particulate pollution and carbon emissions.
Key quote:
“Indoor air pollution from burning plastics leads to elevated risks of respiratory infections, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and other life threatening conditions.”
— 2025 global health research paper
Why this matters:
Burning plastic is a growing source of toxic air pollution in communities with little access to waste infrastructure or clean fuel. Unlike regulated incineration, open burning of plastic releases chemicals like dioxins and phthalates into homes, food, and water. These chemicals can disrupt hormones, impair immune systems, and contribute to cancer, especially in children and pregnant women. In rural or urban slums where other fuel options are limited, plastic offers a cheap and deadly alternative that poisons both the people using it and the surrounding environment. The practice also adds to global carbon emissions, contributing to climate change while further burdening communities least responsible for the plastic pollution crisis.
Learn more: Wealthy nations burn plastic in poorer countries by rebranding it as fuel
