Global Environmental Change 80 (2023) 102648

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Global Environmental Change

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/gloenvcha

Plastic pollution and the open burning of plastic wastes

Gauri Pathak a, *, Mark Nichter b, Anita Hardon c, Eileen Moyer d, Aarti Latkar a,
Joseph Simbaya e, Diana Pakasi f, Efenita Taqueban g, Jessica Love h
a
Department of Global Studies, Aarhus University, Denmark
b
School of Anthropology, University of Arizona, USA
c
Knowledge, Technology, and Innovation Chair Group, Wageningen University and Research, The Netherlands
d
Department of Anthropology, University of Amsterdam, and Amsterdam Institute for Global Health and Development, The Netherlands
e
Institute of Economic and Social Research, University of Zambia, Zambia
f
Centre for Gender and Sexuality Studies, Universitas Indonesia, Indonesia
g
Department of Anthropology, University of the Philippines Diliman, The Philippines
h
Centre for Social Science and Global Health, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: The open burning of plastic wastes is a practice that is highly prevalent across the globe, toxic to human and
Plastic pollution environmental health, and a critical—but often overlooked—aspect of plastic pollution. Most of the countries
Open burning of wastes where such burning is widespread have laws and policies in place against it; open burning continues never­
Plastic wastes
theless. In this article, using data from ethnographic fieldwork in urban and rural sites in India, Indonesia, the
Toxicity
Public health
Philippines, and Zambia, we examine local practices of open burning and investigate why regulations to tackle it
have proven largely ineffective. Adopting a harm reduction approach, we then suggest preliminary measures to
mitigate the health risks of open burning by targeting those plastics and packaging types that are most toxic
when burned.

1. Introduction recently from the United States, the Ministry of Environment and
Forestry appointed a panel of Indonesian experts to counter the report
In 2019, an article in the New York Times led with the headline, “To released last month by Indonesian and international environmental
Make this Tofu, Start by Burning Toxic Plastic” (Paddock 2019b). Based groups” (Paddock 2019a). As this article notes, Indonesia has existing
on data from an environmental report, it described the use of waste laws against the open burning of plastic wastes. Why, then, were they
plastics as fuel for tofu businesses in Tropodo, Indonesia. The article still being thus burned? And why was the focus on the burning of plastic
quickly captured international attention. Plastic scrap is plentiful in wastes in Indonesia rather than on the export of those wastes from the
Tropodo because it is shipped there, much of it from the USA, ostensibly USA? Neither of these two aspects—the open burning of plastic wastes,
for recycling. Small-scale tofu makers within Tropodo burn low-grade predominantly in the Global South, and the shaming of populations
plastic waste as fuel to create the steam that turns soybean milk into there for what is, in fact, a global plastic waste crisis—is novel to this
tofu. They then donate the ashes to farmers to be used as fertilizer. case.
Studies have documented alarming levels of toxicants, such as dioxins The open burning of plastic wastes—which we define as the burning
and polychlorinated biphenyls, in the soil and in the eggs of free-range of waste plastics in open fires without managing for the emission of
chickens in the area (Petrlik et al., 2019). byproducts, such as gases and ash, into the ambient air or soili—is
A month after that article, a follow-up detailed how the Indonesian widespread across the globe. It occurs even in the Global Northii but is
government was tacitly allowing the practice to continue: “Rather than especially prevalent among low and middle-income countries (LMICs) in
enforce a ban on the burning of waste plastic, much of which came until the Global South. Estimates of the scale of open burning among LMICs

* Corresponding author at: Jens Chr. Skous Vej 7, Aarhus 8000C, Denmark.
E-mail address: [email protected] (G. Pathak).
i
Formal management—as in incinerators—need not mean effective management, and the line between controlled and uncontrolled open burning can be hazy;
Tridibesh Dey elaborates on this in a forthcoming publication.
ii
There have been reports of the practice in Estonia (Maasikmets et al., 2016), Hungary (Hoffer et al., 2020), and Poland (Cieślik and Fabiańska 2021).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2023.102648
Received 2 August 2022; Received in revised form 6 January 2023; Accepted 4 February 2023
Available online 10 March 2023
0959-3780/© 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
G. Pathak et al. Global Environmental Change 80 (2023) 102648

range from around 40 % to 65 % of total municipal solid waste (Chris­ science students from the Universitas Indonesia in three peri-urban
tian et al., 2010; Velis and Cook 2021; Wiedinmyer, Yokelson, and communities located within a 50 km range from Jakarta: Bogor Dis­
Gullett 2014). Plastic waste is growing exponentially alongside plastic trict (Citayam), Tangerang City (North Paninggilan), and Depok City
production, and plastics form a significant and ever-growing proportion (Cinangka, Sawangan). In each community, students conducted ten
of burned trash. ethnographic interviews with those regularly engaged in burning, waste
A significant source of air pollution, the open burning of mixed activists, local authorities, and private landfill operators. Those who
wastes produces a variety of adverse environmental and human health regularly burn waste were asked to map out areas in their communities
effects. Plastics are a particularly problematic waste stream when it where waste was burned. The students validated their findings in six
comes to open burning; a study attributed 90 % of black carbon emitted focus group discussions (two per site).
from burning wastes to polyethylene terephthalate and polystyrene, two In the Philippines, the focused guide was applied by anthropology
types of plastics (Reyna-Bensusan et al., 2019). The open burning of students at the University of the Philippines. These students conducted
plastics is associated with an increased risk of heart disease, respiratory fieldwork in their home communities (they were attending classes
issues, neurological disorders, nausea, skin rashes, numbness or tingling remotely at the time) in nine towns within the provinces of Tarlac, La
in the fingers, headaches, memory loss, and confusion (Adetona et al., Union, Eastern Samar, Laguna, South Cotabato, Aklan, and Dinagat
2020; Azoulay et al., 2019; Irianti and Prasetyoputra 2018; Kováts et al., Islands and within two towns in the vicinity of Metro Manila. They too
2022; Velis and Cook 2021; Verma et al., 2016; Wiedinmyer, Yokelson, conducted ten ethnographic interviews in each site and validated their
and Gullett 2014). Some toxic emissions, such as polycyclic aromatic findings in two focus group discussions. Participants were also asked to
hydrocarbons, have been linked to cancer and birth defects (Balcom, mark spaces in their immediate vicinity where they disposed of waste as
Cabrera, and Carey 2021). Ash from open burning contaminates the soil part of a mapping exercise.
and enters groundwater and the food chain. Plastic packaging, which In Zambia, the focused ethnographies were carried out in five com­
accounts for approximately 40 % of global plastics produced, frequently munities in the vicinity of Lusaka by two social science researchers from
contains additives “such as fillers, plasticizers, flame retardants, color­ the University of Zambia. They conducted six interviews in each com­
ants, stabilizers, lubricants, foaming agents, and antistatic agents” in munity, which were augmented by mapping areas where waste was
addition to adhesives and coatings (Groh et al., 2019: 3255). Additives burned. Participants were drawn from rural (low density) and urban
containing metals, including cadmium, chromium, lead, mercury, co­ (low, medium, and high density) areas and included low-, medium-, and
balt, tin, and zinc, are particularly dangerous (Groh et al., 2019: 3264). high-income earners. The ethnographers in each of the country studies
When we think of plastic pollution—which has come to global selected respondents who have experience with managing plastic waste,
prominence as an urgent environmental challenge—we rarely think of including waste collectors and workers at local waste disposal sites. We
the open burning of plastics. The focus, within the media and public are writing up our focused ethnographic method for studying open
discourses, tends to be on marine plastics, plastic litter, and micro­ burning practices in an article for Practicing Anthropology, in which we
plastics (e.g., Pathak and Nichter 2021a). The phenomenon has not outline our interview guide, describe how we combine cartography and
elicited much detailed social and behavioral research either. Most ethnography, and outline the ethics safeguards (i.e., assurances of ano­
countries where open burning is widespread have legislation in place nymity) needed when studying open burning practices in countries
against the practice—why, then, does it continue unabated? In this where such burning is prohibited.
article, we investigate this discrepancy through ethnographic fieldwork As anthropologists working at the interface of medical and envi­
in India, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Zambia. We selectively high­ ronmental anthropology and science and technology studies, we posi­
light examples of local patterns of open burning in these countries to tion ourselves within an emerging transdisciplinary field dedicated to
make the case for the open burning of plastics as a critical—but largely the study of cumulative toxicities as a feature of the Anthropocene.
overlooked—dimension of plastic pollution and a global health and Studies within this field examine how entanglements between chemicals
development problem. Tracing the problem of plastic wastes back to and humans have shaped ways of being and living in the contemporary
unbridled plastic production, we go on to describe measures—beyond world (e.g., Abrahms-Kavunenko 2021; Alaimo 2010; Checker 2007;
bans on open burning—to mitigate the most toxic aspects of this Geissler and Prince 2020; Hardon 2021; Lee 2020; Liboiron, Tironi, and
problem. Calvillo 2018; MacLeish and Wool 2018; Murphy 2008; Nading 2020;
Perczel 2021; Roberts 2017). Anthropological work on waste has
2. Methods and theoretical orientation emphasized the importance of ethnography in providing nuanced nar­
ratives of toxic waste management and in highlighting the failure of
The cases featured here are drawn from long-term observations in interventions to respond in locally salient ways. Research in Kampala,
diverse communities in India by the first and second authors. These were Uganda, by Jacob Doherty, for example, illustrates how heterogeneous
augmented by more targeted pilot fieldwork by members of our “Plastic policies that play out on the national and municipal levels allow for the
Lives” consortium—a group of social science scholars investigating amplification of what he terms the “politics of cleanliness” embedded in
human–plastic entanglements throughout the plastic lifecycle. In India, both moral and materials worlds (Doherty 2022:4). His work suggests
ethnographic observation and unstructured interviews with those that state-centric solutions that are increasingly shaped by global sus­
engaged in open burning were conducted in Arunachal Pradesh (Roing), tainability policies may have limited impact on local waste management
Maharashtra (Dhule, Kolhapur, Mumbai, Pune, Talegaon), and Telan­ practices, including the burning of plastics and other toxic wastes. Even
gana (Hyderabad). This was supplemented with fieldnotes from long- more compelling, Little’s (2021) ethnography of e-waste management in
term observations in Gujarat (Kutch), Maharashtra (Mumbai, Tale­ Ghana shows the ways that international policies and bilateral trade
gaon), Karnataka (Dakshin Kanara), and Uttar Pradesh (Lucknow) agreements often compound the problem of the accumulation of toxic
(Pathak and Nichter 2019; Pathak and Nichter 2021b). Building on in­ waste in places where urban unemployment is experienced by national
sights from India, our consortium developed a guide for focused and municipal policymakers as a more pressing issue. The recovery of
ethnographic research on community and household burning practices. metals such as copper, silver, and gold from e-waste leads to a near-
This guide was applied (December 2021–July 2022) in purposively steady burn of toxic fires that are not only tolerated but held up as an
selected communities in Zambia, the Philippines, and Indone­ example of job creation; our consortium’s work on South Africa has
sia—countries that differ in terms of policies against open burning. As a documented a similar theme (Musariri and Moyer 2022). Little draws
result of varied and dynamic COVID-19-related restrictions, the field­ upon Marder’s (2020) term “pyro-politics” to conceptualize this com­
work occurred in communities that the country researchers could access. plex interweaving of environmental, social, and economic reasoning
In Indonesia, a focused ethnographic study was conducted by social that leads to a policy and legal domain that is patchy at best.

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Elsewhere, we have referred to heterogenous plastics policies as left to fend for themselves. Meanwhile, with economic development,
“leaky by design” to highlight the ways that regulatory loopholes are consumption-oriented economies, and exponential growth in plastic
exploited by producers, users, and those responsible for disposal to packaging (not least as a result of contemporary manufacturing and
escape efforts to prevent ecological and human damage (Hardon et al., supply chain infrastructures; see also Hawkins 2013, 2018), there has
forthcoming). Green regulatory measures in one place (i.e., Europe or been an explosion in volumes of trash, especially non-biodegradable
China), when combined with global circuits of production and trade, trash that lingers over long durations. Approximately two billion peo­
may result in “spillage” into other regions. Given these realities, we ple worldwide lack access to solid waste collection services, and they
recommend a harm reduction approach for local interventions aimed at dispose of their trash through burying, burning, or dumping into wa­
targeting those plastics and plastic packaging types that are most per­ terways or open ground (Reyna-Bensusan, Wilson, and Smith 2018). Our
nicious when burned. fieldwork confirmed that open burning was most commonly used as a
waste management technique when waste collection was absent, but it
3. Policies against open burning also provided other ethnographic insights into this issue.
We found that waste was burned even in areas with waste collection
The open burning of plastic wastes occurs even in countries with coverage because of the costs or wait times posed by these services. For
policies aimed at such open burning. We saw frequent and pervasive example, in Indonesia, burning emerged as the most common way of
burning across our field sites despite laws in place against the practice. getting rid of plastic wastes or reducing waste volumes in all three of our
In India, the burning of plastic wastes in the open was banned in 2013 field sites, despite these sites being served by private waste collection.
(National Green Tribunal 2013). In response to the lack of imple­ Open burning was seen as an option for those unwilling to pay the
mentation of this ban, a 2016 judgment set up fines of Indian Rupees monthly collection fee of between Indonesian Rupiahs 25,000–50,000
5,000 (around USD 64) for “simple” burning and 25,000 (around USD (approx. USD 2–4). In some cases, people reported burning small plastics
320) for bulk waste burning (The Hans India 2016). In Indonesia, in our along with organic wastes in their yard and setting aside larger plastic
field site in Tangerang, the burning of wastes containing plastics is wastes for trash pickup. Households burned their mixed wastes every
prohibited under the city regulation number 3 of 2009, article 19; ac­ two days, either in the mornings between 10 and 11 am, after household
cording to article 24, it carries a maximum imprisonment of three cleaning, or between 4 and 5 pm, upon returning from work. Waste
months or a maximum fine of Indonesian Rupiahs 50,000,000 (around burning was also carried out at a community level by mutual agreements
USD 3,300) (Tangerang City 2009). The city regulation is in accordance between households within a neighborhood. In these cases, households
with law number 18 of 2008 concerning waste management, article 29, would be informed of the burning so that they could ensure that clothes
which prohibits open burning that is not in accordance with the tech­ were not left on clotheslines to be exposed to smoke. In the monsoons, an
nical requirements for waste management in the country (Republic of accelerant, such as gasoline, was used to ignite damp wastes.
Indonesia 2008). In the Philippines, the Clean Air Act of 1999 (Republic In Zambia, we heard of the burning of wastes not just as a result of
Act 8749) includes a ban on the incineration of waste, and the Ecological garbage collection services being deemed unaffordable but also because
Solid Waste Management Act of 2001 (Republic Act 9003), sets the legal collection was not frequent enough. As one community member noted:
parameters for the country’s waste management, waste prevention, and
We burn unwanted plastic waste here. Every day after sweeping the
recycling (Republic of the Philippines 1999, 2001). These laws are
surroundings we pick up the waste and burn it. Some of the plastics
supplemented by ordinances by local government units. On the island of
are not strong enough for reuse, easily tear up, therefore we burn
Panay, for example, we were told that the municipality penalizes waste
them. Burning is not a good practice, but here we have no choice but
burning with a fine of Philippine Pesos 2,000 (around USD 37) and one
to burn the plastic waste because waste is only collected once a week
day of community service. In Zambia, the Statutory Instrument Number
and the plastics easily fill up the trash bags. So, in order to avoid that
65 of the Solid Waste Regulation and Management Act, 2018, identifies
and to prevent plastic from being blown by the wind in all directions
the intentional open burning of any wastes and the burying of non-
and messing up the surroundings, we burn them.
organic wastes as punishable offenses (Government Republic of
Zambia 2018). This frustration with long periods between garbage collection was
Our research revealed four key, often overlapping, themes impli­ echoed in the Philippines, where one resident put it succinctly: “the
cated in the lack of efficacy of these policies. The most pervasive of these garbage man hardly ever comes by.”
were 1) gaps in waste management services, including the absence of The contrasting interests and agendas of those involved in waste
waste collection, constraints posed by the costs or time required to ac­ collection, sorting, and disposal also encouraged open burning. In the
cess such collection, frictions between various arms of waste manage­ city of Dhule, India, a doctor running his own hospital recounted how
ment services, and a lack of effective ways of dealing with waste after mixed waste was burned in the open as a result of a lack of coordination
collection. Related to this was 2) a focus on the aesthetics of place. Such between different arms of the municipal services. Municipal sweepers
a focus often resulted in 3) policies or interventions aimed at tackling would clear out trash (leaves and branches but also littered plastic
plastic pollution that highlight litter and end up encouraging open bottles and packaging waste) from the city’s gutters and collect that
burning. Overall, these dimensions were influenced by 4) assessments trash into small piles. However, these piles were erratically collected by
made by locals regarding the harms related to various ways of handling the thekedaar, or contracted sanitary official. (Our interlocutor attrib­
wastes. We now examine each of these four aspects further. uted this to corruption within the municipal body in the awarding of
contracts.) The trash would get dispersed by winds or rain in the
4. Gaps in waste management services meantime, and the sweepers (typically women of the Dalit, that is the
most marginalized, castes)—would be blamed. To avoid this, the
A vast body of literature within waste management and environ­ sweepers would set the piles ablaze every week or so. Often, the doctor
mental science has documented open burning as a common method for explained, the gathered trash would not be collected (nor set alight) for
dealing with waste in locations with limited or inadequate waste more than 4–5 days. When the trash piles built up near his hospital and
collection services (e.g., Ajay et al., 2022; Ayelerua 2020; Chaudhary started smelling, he would ask a nurse to set a match to them. Ninety
et al., 2021; Ferronato and Torretta 2019; Kováts et al., 2022; Naidja, percent of the time, he said, the piles would catch fire without an
Ali-Khodja, and Khardi 2018; Velis and Cook 2021; Wiedinmyer, accelerant; otherwise, they would use “rockel” (kerosene). In Tanger­
Yokelson, and Gullett 2014). Many communities, whether urban, peri- ang, Indonesia, we similarly heard garbage collectors—who, as part of
urban, or rural, lack waste collection coverage. It is not uncommon for the informal economy, sell waste with scrap value—complain that local
households and neighborhoods that are overburdened with wastes to be government officers charged them illegal fees to take the remaining

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wastes to the dumping ground; they practiced open burning to escape or industry’s efforts to market destinations (Williams et al., 2016). Plastic
reduce these fees. litter generated by both high consumption tourism and g/local marine
Such frictions were also implicated in large-scale fires at dumping flows (in the case of beaches) is a constant challenge (Hayati et al.,
grounds in India. Many countries in the Global South, such as India, rely 2020). In the popular tourist destinations that we observed in South and
on dumping grounds—rather than scientifically managed landfills—to Southeast Asia, piles of mostly plastic litter in tourist spaces were typi­
house wastes; around 93 % to 66 % of the municipal solid waste in cally raked up and burned early each morning by restaurant/hotel
LMICs is deposited in dump sites (Sharma and Jain 2020). In 2016, a fire managers and local vendors to maintain a pristine “front stage” image.
raged at Mumbai’s Deonar dumping ground—the city’s largest dumping Meanwhile, spaces frequented more by locals than tourists were left
ground—for a week (Earth Observatory 2016; Pinto 2016). Although littered (see also Kerber and Kramm 2021 for similar observations in
that conflagration was novel in its scale and duration, it was not an Vietnam).
isolated incident. Fires at dumping grounds are common, and Deonar
regularly experiences them. Spontaneous fires can result from highly 6. Policies targeting plastic pollution
flammable landfill gases, which are the byproducts of the degradation of
organic wastes, interacting with flammable plastic wastes in places with Policies and interventions that are ostensibly aimed at tackling
high ambient temperatures. However, several interlocutors in Mumbai, plastic pollution were also revealed to inadvertently encourage open
especially those working in the environmental or social justice spaces, burning. For example, the state of Maharashtra, India, put in place a
suggested that fires at the Deonar dumping ground are often set inten­ single-use plastic ban in 2018. Our ethnographic study in a residential
tionally, as tactics in turf wars between gangs involved in the scrap trade complex located on the outskirts of a town in the state found that the
or to allow valuable metal scrap to surface from garbage heaps. These local governing body, the gram panchayat, refused to collect Styrofoam.
suggestions were echoed in the media coverage of such fires (e.g., Sinha Styrofoam is a type of polystyrene, known locally as thermocol. Ther­
2018). mocol had been included under the single-use plastic ban in Mahara­
Fires at dumping grounds can also be set intentionally to reduce shtra. However, it was still entering the complex as it was being used for
waste volumes. In Zambia, we heard of constant burning at the Chunga packing, especially for goods bought online or shipped in from outside
dumpsite outside the city of Lusaka. “The fire at the landfill [dumpsite] the state. With no way of disposing of the polystyrene, residents were
has been burning for years, and it is rekindled every time the wind forced to burn it at the peripheries of the complex. The ban, aimed at the
blows…That fire never burns out even during the rainy season,” an reduction of plastic pollution, led to another form of pollution—the open
interlocutor complained. Similarly, in Indonesia, we were told that the burning of polystyrene, which produces the toxic styrene gas.
owners of three private dumping grounds burned wastes daily. Burning Global, governmental, and media messages highlight plastic litter as
took place in the afternoons and evenings, after wastes had dried in the a problem, and this has meant that other dimensions of plastic pollution
sun. Such burning helped prevent garbage piles toppling over, hardened get elided. Most policies and interventions aimed at plastic pollution
the soil on uneven land, and reduced the amount of waste in the focus on the aesthetic dimension, that is, on plastic litter (Pathak 2023).
dumping grounds. In the Philippines, prior to the passage of the Clean Sensitization to plastic litter also ends up, in many cases, favoring
Air Act, dumping grounds all over the country were constantly burning. burning (Aarti Latkar and Gauri Pathak elaborate upon this in a forth­
Low awareness regarding the prohibition against burning meant that coming publication). In India, campaigns such as the Clean India Mis­
interlocutors expressed sentiments such as, “If I don’t burn my trash, sion—a national program aimed at waste management and the cleaning
they will just put it in the dumping ground,” implying that it would be of India’s public spaces—have sensitized the public to litter and visible
burned anyway. This was not unique to the Philippines; we heard waste. Under the Mission, local governance bodies are incentivized to
several community members say that wastes would be burned at reduce the volumes of waste going to dumping grounds (by increasing
dumpsites anyway. In the absence of alternatives to burning in order to recycling and composting); we heard that municipal officials and em­
deal with ever-increasing volumes of waste at dumping grounds, in­ ployees were therefore engaging in open burning. In Arunachal Pradesh,
terlocutors saw small-scale burning as a more convenient, cheaper op­ India, we similarly observed a guide for a trekking group gather the
tion. As we elaborate later, they also saw it as safer than the large-scale plastics he encountered on a trail and set them alight. When asked, he
burning that occurred at dumping grounds. said he had been inspired by the Clean India Mission.
In Citayam, Indonesia, we found that the local government had put
5. Focus on aesthetics of place up signs warning residents not to throw plastic trash into the Ciliwung
river. Though households were plied by garbage collectors provided by
The lack of affordable, frequent, and effective waste collection and the local government, the dumping ground that received wastes was
disposal was complemented by an emphasis on aesthetics and cleanli­ over capacity. Moreover, garbage collectors would not handle litter
ness in encouraging the burning of mixed wastes. In our sites in dumped by passersby on roadsides. As a result, the community built
Indonesia, open burning was associated with mosque or community small-scale kilns (tungku sampah) to burn household and community
cleaning activities, usually conducted on Fridays. Friday, as a holy day, waste; one kiln was located near the river. Here again, an intervention
was considered auspicious for cleaning. Community members would aimed at keeping the river free of plastic wastes led to the burning of
take turns to clean their streets, waterways, and public facilities, with those wastes instead; the river was still being polluted but just in a
the wastes burned thereafter. These findings are in line with a study by different way.
Phelan et al. (2020) in a coastal community in Indonesia, which noted
that village-level clean ups resulted in increased plastic burning. An­ 7. Assessments of risks and harms
thropologist Lukas Forte (personal communication, 2021) also observed
open burning on the island of Sumbawa as a part of clean-up events. In the earlier paragraphs, we laid out the constraints faced by com­
Similarly, in Dakshin Kanara, India, wastes, mostly plastic pack­ munities and individuals in disposing of their plastic wastes. Against this
aging, were dumped by travelers along roadsides or rail tracks. When highly constrained waste management landscape, residents individually
these wastes accumulated to the point of becoming an eyesore, they and collectively make assessments regarding the harms posed by the
were periodically gathered up and set on fire by various community alternatives available to them. In some cases, these assessments are
groups. Such activities occurred as part of routine clean-up activities. based on a lack of awareness regarding the dangers posed by the emis­
Clean-up activities that focused on public spaces and culminated in sions and ash resulting from the burning of plastics. Thus, although the
burning were especially pronounced in tourist destinations. Tourism is smoke and smell from burning were seen by our interlocutors as both­
vital to the economy of many LMICs, and litter undermines the tourist ersome, the practice was not viewed as especially toxic. In the

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G. Pathak et al. Global Environmental Change 80 (2023) 102648

Philippines, siga is the practice of morning and/or afternoon yard “natural consequence” of smoke exposure. Community kilns were
cleaning within the country; swept up leaves and litter are burned. thought to be safe as they directed smoke upwards, away from people.
Burning is thought to not only be an effective way of dealing with yard Similarly, in Zambia, open burning was generally carried out when
waste but also to serve as natural fumigation—the smoke keeps neighbors were asleep to avoid people’s exposure to smoke:
mosquitos and other pests away. The smoke is also likened to carbon,
There is no harm in burning the plastics because we do it at night and
which plants are thought to need. Accustomed to burning yard waste,
early in the morning while people are still sleeping…We wait for
residents, particularly of rural areas, saw no harm in adding household
people to sleep before we burn the plastic and leaves.
wastes, including plastics, to the mix. In Indonesia, we heard from
community members that the ashes from burning wastes—even plastic Given the use of the sensorial to assess harm, the volume of plastics
wastes—were thought to make plants grow better and used as fertilizer. getting burned was key to perceptions of and action against harm.
In India, the burning of agricultural stubble is common, and in­ Across field sites, people expressed concern about open burning at large
terlocutors recounted similar practices in rural fields to deal with lit­ dumping grounds. A Zambian interlocutor stated about fires at the
tered plastics. Discarded plastic bags are used to ward off birds, and dumping ground, “The problem is that the plastics that are burned
plastic wastes are often carried into fields by winds or rain and accu­ produce fumes which might be responsible for some health problems
mulate there. After the harvest, farmers set fire to the stubble, and lit­ some people have in this area…I know of a friend who has been com­
tered plastics get burned as well. Cultural notions of fire as purificatory plaining of chest pains for over two years now and he lives opposite the
mean that such burning is seen as relatively harmless. In Hinduism, fire landfill.” In Indonesia, interlocutors differentiated between smaller scale
is “an agency of destruction leading to possible rebirth” (Rosin 2000: waste burning, which they saw as acceptable, and burning at dumping
395). Thus, not only fire but also the ashes it leaves behind are grounds, which they opposed. Fires at dumping grounds were consid­
considered both purified and purifying (Rosin 2000: 362). Fire is ered harmful because they produced a haze and brought “strange” and
thought to remove elements from the cosmological food chain, pre­ “strong” chemical odors. Similarly, in India, whereas the small-scale
venting undigestible elements from entering ecologies. It therefore burning of plastics was tolerated, the fires at the Deonar dumping
forms a seemingly ideal method of dealing with troublesome non- ground, which involved many more plastics, thicker smoke, and a longer
biodegradable wastes such as plastics. These attitudes to fire have also duration, elicited complaints from city residents. Such an assessment of
hampered a full appreciation among the public for the dangers of the harm encouraged small-scale burning as it was seen as less problematic
inhalation of smoke from agricultural burning and indoor mud stoves. than (often inevitable) burning at dumping grounds which are over
We also encountered the use of small plastics as fire starters for capacity. Nonetheless, studies suggest that small-scale burning is more
household wood-fired chul (mud stoves) in Maharashtra. “Patdishi pet harmful than large-scale burning because people are exposed more
dhartaya plastic mula [It catches fire instantly because of the plastic],” an closely and more frequently to the emissions (Ajay et al., 2022).
interlocutor in Kolhapur explained. The women who described such use Against this backdrop, interlocutors spoke of the perceived harms of
were typically from lower-income groups; although they had gas con­ letting wastes fester, which was the outcome of not burning those
nections that they used for everyday cooking, other chores, such as wastes. In Telangana, India, an interlocutor setting aflame a heap of
heating bathwater, relied on cheaper firewood. In the cities of Mumbai mixed waste at a temporary dumpsite explained that he did so to
and Lucknow, we also observed workers on the night shift in the winters, eliminate the stench and to prevent seepage of leachate into the
especially night watchmen, light small bonfires by gathering dried groundwater and his neighboring field. He also believed burning would
leaves, twigs, and trash together. These bonfires included small plastic prevent the spread of germs and infections from the garbage. In Zambia,
packaging wastes, which were not segregated out. In Ngwerere, Zambia, concerns about menstrual blood being used in witchcraft led to used
a school teacher described using plastic packets from small snacks (jig­ menstrual pads being burned in secret. The piling of ripe diapers be­
gies) as fire starters: “We collect them and use them to light cooking fires tween waste collection was meanwhile thought to be unhygienic and
because they are quite flammable. The fire lights up quicker that way.” used diapers were therefore burned.
In Helen Kaunda, Zambia, they were used to light braziers in the com­ Concerns regarding hygiene and contagion are particularly salient
munity. Given the small quantities of plastics being burned, such when it comes to the disposal of medical waste: incineration is thought
burning was not deemed dangerous. to be best practice by many healthcare professionals because of a belief
Across our field sites, even when the burning of mixed wastes was that this effectively kills pathogens (e.g., Gupta et al., 2009; Mbongwe,
recognized as harmful, harms were evaluated through the sensorial. Mmereki, and Magashula 2008). In Dhule, India, however, our medical
That is, the color of the smoke and the smell were seen as indicators of interlocutor expressed reservations regarding the fate of the medical
harm. Thus, when trash was burned in a pit at the very center of a waste that was collected, purportedly for incineration, from his facil­
housing complex in India, residents complained that they could see and ities. Medical waste collected for incineration in Dhule had been found,
smell the thick, acrid smoke within their homes. Trash burning was he told us, to be openly burned—and the collection fees illegally
therefore moved to the peripheries of the complex, even though it was pocketed—a few years prior.
close to a river. In the Philippines, we were told that when the smoke However, it was not just the health risks that troubled inter­
produced by burning was dark and the burning pile emitted a strong locutors—aesthetics was a major focus, in all four countries. As an
odor, people kept away from it, whereas white smoke with a “natural” interlocutor in Ngwerere, Zambia, explained, “When I seriously come to
odor was considered safe. think of it, burning plastics causes air pollution. However, we are often
Even sensory indices were seen to suggest more of a short-term faced with a situation where we have to choose between unsightly
bother than a long-term hazard. None of our interlocutors evidenced surroundings or burning the plastic waste.” In fact, as described, we
concern about the fact that the particulates and toxicants released by found that sensitization to plastic litter and waste—as a result of global
burning plastics can linger in the air for long periods, even after the and local campaigns and policies raising awareness about plastic
smoke and smell have dissipated. This can be compared to perceptions of pollution and the cleanliness of public spaces—led to community
harm related to second-hand cigarette smoke—the smoke lingers in the members conducting clean-up drives and burning wastes. Visible litter
air for several hours but is not considered dangerous when it can no was not just a threat to tourism but also left the sense of a place not being
longer be smelled (Padmawati et al., 2018). Moreover, frequent and tended to which distressed community members. Without alternative
long-term exposure to smells can lead to olfactory adaptations, ways to manage wastes, open burning was considered a more benign
rendering certain smells less perceptible. In Indonesia, interlocutors who option.
burned their waste stated that none of their family members had expe­ Finally, it is worth highlighting two aspects related to the enforce­
rienced respiratory problems; some coughing was deemed a brief, ment of regulations against open burning. For one, public awareness of

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policies against open burning was relatively low across all our field sites. plastics that are most toxic when burned.
People were not always aware of specific restrictions, even if they had When burned, some plastics are less harmful than other types that
vaguely heard about them. Secondly, there were pragmatic and social yield emissions and residues linked to severe environmental and human
relational reasons that policies were not stringently enforced. In health problems; see Table 1 (Alabi et al., 2019; Lebek et al., 2005;
Indonesia, for example, some residents who did not burn their trash McKenna and Hull 2016; Morikawa and Yanai 1989; Sovová et al., 2008;
were concerned about the smoke or worried that it would worsen family U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 2011; Valavanidis et al., 2008;
members’ respiratory disorders. However, they were reluctant to Velis and Cook 2021; Verma et al., 2016; Wakefield 2010; Wheatley
complain for reasons related to social risk. They wished to avoid conflict et al., 1993). The burning of Styrofoam (polystyrene) or polyvinyl
that might disrupt social relations. Social relations were also implicated chloride (PVC), is, for example, extremely dangerous—such plastics
in community members’ reluctance to complain about open burning at release especially toxic styrene gas, dioxins, or chlorinated furans when
dump sites; people did not want conflict with the kin of those managing ignited. Interactions between these plastics and other wastes can also
the sites. Furthermore, in contexts in which open burning occurs lead to toxic emissions mixes.
because of a lack of feasible alternatives for waste management—or Recognizing the reality that these plastics and packaging types will
because of a lack of money to pay for waste collection service­ likely end up being burned, we recommend 1) reductions in the use of
s—enforcing policies, especially among low-income community mem­ these plastics and packaging types wherever possible, incentivized
bers, is not viable. It would likely result in community outrage and through higher taxation and caps on production, 2) local campaigns
political ramifications. Concerns about social relations and the micro­ raising awareness about the toxicity of the ash left behind by open
politics of community life in villages and towns make enforcing policies burning to prevent use of this ash as fertilizer, and 3) extended producer
against open burning problematic. Thus, residents in Panay, the responsibility (EPR) schemes that task manufacturers with collecting
Philippines, told us that the rules related to open burning were “nego­ and safely—and under regular monitoring—recycling or disposing of
tiable” and added that “walang pangil ang batas (the law has no teeth).” the post-consumer wastes that result.
Enforcement consisted of, at best, token gestures. Policies related to EPR were introduced in India in 2016, but they
have been criticized for being vague and unclear on several counts,
8. Toward harm reduction

In the face of these local constraints and concerns—and their Table 1

rendering of policies against open burning largely unenforceable—what Examples of toxicants released upon the open burning of various plastics.
can be done to reduce the harms of the burning of plastic wastes? First, Type of Plastic Common Toxicants Released Health Effects
two notes of caution. For one, we must recognize that the open burning Forms Upon Burning
of wastes is an act of care. It is undertaken to reduce unsightliness and Polyethylene Drink bottles, Methane, ethane, Mild to moderate
risks of contagion and infection. Practices of open burning mark off Terephthalate cosmetic ethyne, formaldehyde, respiratory
spaces as places—as the sites of community attention, concern, and (PET or packaging, carbon dioxide, carbon irritation,
effort. In fact, throughout our fieldwork, we found that spaces where PETE) water bottles monoxide, polycyclic carcigogenic and
aromatic hydrocarbons mutagenic
wastes were left to accumulate were a “no-man’s land”—zones of
effects
abandonment and apathy. Any measures to tackle the harms of open High-Density Shampoo Olefins, paraffin, Mild to moderate
burning must recognize the labor and local capacities required by the Polyethylene bottles, aldehydes, and light respiratory
practice, and interventions must leverage—rather than devalue—these (HDPE) grocery bags, hydrocarbons, carbon irritation,
capacities. flower pots, monoxide, polycyclic carcigogenic and
cereal box aromatic hydrocarbons mutagenic
Second, we must recognize that the problem of open burning is not a liners effects
problem of unhygienic or ignorant citizens in the Global South. Open Polyvinyl Drainpipes, Carbon monoxide, Cancer, birth
burning is not unique to the Global South. Even the plastic wastes that Chloride blister packs, dioxins, chlorinated defects,
are burned in these regions are implicated in global flows of plastics, for (PVC or toys, bottles, furans, hydrogen respiratory tract
Vinyl) and jugs chloride, polycyclic disorders, etc.
example, through plastics carried by ocean currents and deposited onto
aromatic hydrocarbons
distant seashores or plastic wastes dumped in LMICs under the guise of Low-Density Assorted Olefins, paraffin, Mild to moderate
recycling. The open burning of plastics is symptomatic of communities Polyethylene beverage and aldehydes, and light respiratory
overburdened with the wastes of a global “cannibal” capitalist economy (LDPE) food, frozen hydrocarbons, carbon irritation,
(Fraser 2022) that revolves around ever-increasing consumption food, frozen monoxide, polycyclic carcigogenic and
juice, and milk aromatic hydrocarbons mutagenic
regardless of its ecological costs. Burdening these communities further, packaging effects
by raising awareness regarding the harms of burning without providing Polypropylene Medicine, Naphthalene, Mild to moderate
locally viable alternatives for waste disposal, will not only prove fruit­ (PP) yogurt, methylnaphthalene, respiratory
less but is also grossly unfair. Many anti-litter campaigns, for example, condiments, biphenyl, fluorene, irritation,
other food and phenanthrene, carcigogenic and
emphasize the removal of litter as normative behavior but fall short of
beverage methylphenanthrene, mutagenic
providing effective, convenient means for disposing of this litter. Indeed, packaging anthracene, pyrene, and effects
as we have shown, such campaigns end up encouraging open burning. benzo[a] fluorene,
Ultimately, then, addressing the harms of the open burning of plastic polycyclic aromatic
wastes will require interventions at the level of not just disposal—the hydrocarbons
Polystyrene (PS Foam cups, Styrene gas, acrolein, Cancer,
creation of affordable, reliable, and effective trash collection and end- or Styrofoam) meat trays, egg hydrogen cyanide, neurotoxicity,
stage processing alternatives that build upon local capacities—but also cartons, plastic polycyclic aromatic eye and mucous
at the level of production, through a reduction in the manufacturing and forks and hydrocarbons membrane
consumption of plastics, a turn toward greater reuse, the use of less toxic spoons, damage,
packaging narcosis, and
plastic additives, and the phasing out of forms of packaging (e.g., multi-
filler death in high
layer packaging and multi-polymer packaging) and plastics (e.g., poly­ doses
carbonate) that cannot be easily recycled. This may sound utopian and Polyurethane Curtains, wood Carbon monoxide, Death in high
unpragmatic. It will undoubtedly take several decades to make such a (PU) finishes, hydrogen cyanide, doses
shift. As we work toward these larger goals, what steps can we take in sealants, phosgene
adhesives
the meantime for harm reduction? One place to begin is to focus on those

6
G. Pathak et al. Global Environmental Change 80 (2023) 102648

including who is to be held financially liable (the plastic resin manu­ desire to know more and a willingness to mitigate harms.
facturer, the packaging maker, or the brand owner) and to whom they
would be answerable (local or national pollution control boards). The CRediT authorship contribution statement
role of the informal economy and waste pickers within such schemes
was also not entirely clear (Pani and Pathak 2021). Since then, EPR Gauri Pathak: Conceptualization, Formal analysis, Funding acqui­
policy has undergone several refinements, and the latest set of amend­ sition, Investigation, Methodology, Project administration, Writing -
ments has set down targets and timelines for the collection of volumes of original draft, Writing - review & editing. Mark Nichter: Conceptuali­
types of plastic wastes and the reuse of recycled materials. Nevertheless, zation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Writing - original
implementation remains problematic, and third-party monitoring draft. Anita Hardon: Conceptualization, Formal analysis, Funding
mechanisms have not been set in place (Shah 2022). We suggest that to acquisition, Methodology, Writing - review & editing. Eileen Moyer:
be truly successful, EPR schemes will need to go beyond these measures Conceptualization, Formal analysis, Funding acquisition, Methodology,
and take advantage of local capacities by providing incentives, not just Writing - review & editing. Aarti Latkar: Investigation, Writing - orig­
to waste pickers but also to community members, for the segregation inal draft, Writing - review & editing. Joseph Simbaya: Investigation,
and return of plastic wastes. Writing - original draft. Diana Pakasi: Investigation, Writing - original
In India, we encountered an environmental initiative termed Safai draft. Efenita Taqueban: Investigation, Writing - original draft. Jessica
Bank (https://safaibank.org) that can serve as an example. As part of this Love: Writing - original draft, Writing - review & editing.
initiative, students were asked to collect their multi-layer packaging
wastes for use as fuel stock (co-processing) in cement kilns. Burning in Declaration of Competing Interest
cement kilns can be problematic in India as a result of the inadequate
regulation of emissions, but what we wish to foreground here is the The authors declare that they have no known competing financial
leveraging of students for waste management. Student volunteers were interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence
provided with certificates and other rewards for their efforts. EPR ini­ the work reported in this paper.
tiatives based on local capacities, such as this one, would require an
easily identifiable label on these types of packaging and plastics com­ Data availability
bined with campaigns to create awareness about these labels and about
the EPR schemes. Data used is based on fieldnotes and ethnographic data; further de­
tails will be published in individual country reports.
9. Conclusion

Acknowledgments:
In this article, we have focused on community and household prac­
tices related to the open burning of plastics despite existing laws and
The funding for the research was supported by a Carlsberg Founda­
policies meant to discourage those practices. At a time when global and
tion Young Researcher Fellowship (CF-20-0151; Project, ‘Plastics and
regional actors are increasingly committed to developing greater
the Anthropocene: The Bads Associated with the Goods We Consume’)
accountability though a global plastics treaty, ethnographic research
and by funds from the Centre for Social Science and Global Health at the
can provide insights into the limits of policy-based interventions. This is
University of Amsterdam. Our co-investigator in Indonesia, Irwan
especially the case in contexts where waste management is largely
Hidayana, and student researchers in Indonesia (Gendhis Rahajeng,
carried out through informal networks that routinely escape governance
Reinanda, M. Fany, Putri Rahmadhani, Natasya Hana, Astrid Budi,
attempts and in a world where wastes, plastic and otherwise, are
Ilham Muhammad, and Uswatun Khasanah Enggar) and the Philippines
increasingly exported from wealthy countries to be disposed of, recy­
(King Philippe Biray, Regina Kyle Buco, Marie Dominique Calizo,
cled, or processed in LMICs.
Alexzandra Faye Castillo, Hanzvic Clarisse Dellomas, Cathryne Enri­
Given the increased attention in policymaking to limiting plastic
quez, Joshua Evangelista, Marie Chanelle Garcia, Carla Marie Lumba,
pollution, as anthropologists of science and technology, we draw atten­
John Joshua Macapia, Patricia Beatrice Maloles, Kim Alexander Miguel,
tion to the ways that legal categorizing, in this case, distinguishing be­
Katherine Navarrete, Julia Daphne Ocampo, Edward Ornopia, Mae Anne
tween plastics in and out of place or waste that is properly or mis-
Pagador, Jean Nicole Rodriguez, Janella Nicole Serrano, and Pamela
managed, may help to conceal the larger problems of exponential in­
Mae Tagle) were instrumental in conducting the fieldwork, and we
creases in plastic production and distribution, global flows of plastic
thank Arthur M. Moonga for coordinating the data collection and
waste into marginalized communities, and the limits of plastics’ recy­
analysis in Zambia. We are grateful to all our interlocutors for their
clability. The implementation and oversight of policies and laws re­
gracious participation, time, and insights. We are also grateful to all the
quires the resources, capacity, infrastructure, and political will to do so.
members of the Plastic Lives consortium and to the anonymous peer
In practice, our research has shown that governments may find it diffi­
reviewers for their comments on early drafts.
cult to implement policies banning single-use plastics or the open
burning of (plastic) waste for a variety of reasons. They may also
encounter widespread resistance when they try to enforce said policies, Funding sources
from interests ranging from multinational companies to waste pickers.
We have suggested that while big shifts toward plastic control are Carlsberg Foundation Young Researcher Fellowship (CF-20-0151).
debated, put into practice, and assessed, some initial steps may be taken Centre for Social Science and Global Health at the University of
in the name of harm reduction. These steps revolve around recognizing Amsterdam
the realities of open burning and focusing on those plastics and pack­
aging types that are the most dangerous to burn. Our embracing of a References
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