In Japan, a country where cleanliness and neat packaging have long been considered good service, almost everything is sold plastic-wrapped. But as world leaders gather in Osaka for the two-day G-20 summit that starts on Friday, Japan will attempt to become a leader in environmental policy at the same time it plays catch-up with countries that already have well-defined goals in place.

Big plastic user Japan fights waste ahead of G20

Indonesia has returned five containers of rubbish to the United States and will not become a "dumping ground", officials said Saturday, the latest Southeast Asian country to return imported waste.&nbsp;

The containers were supposed to contain only paper scrap, according to the customs documents. Instead, they were loaded with other waste including bottles, plastic waste, and diapers, said senior environment ministry official Sayid Muhadhar.

"This is not appropriate and we don't want to be a dumping ground," Muhadhar told AFP.&nbsp;

The five containers -- owned by a Canadian company -- were shipped from Seattle in the United States to Indonesia's second biggest city Surabaya in late March, Muhadhar said.&nbsp;

It was not immediately clear where the rubbish originated from.

Indonesia is currently examining several other containers in Jakarta's port and the city of Batam on the island of Sumatra.&nbsp;

It is the latest country to return imported rubbish after neighbouring Malaysia vowed to ship back hundreds of tonnes of plastic waste last month.&nbsp;

The Philippines has ordered tonnes of garbage dumped in the country to be shipped back to Canada, sparking a diplomatic row between the two countries.

For years China received the bulk of scrap plastic from around the world but closed its doors to foreign refuse last year in an effort to clean up its environment.

Huge quantities of waste have since been redirected to Southeast Asia, including Malaysia, Indonesia and to a lesser degree the Philippines.

Around 300 million tonnes of plastic are produced every year. Much of that ends up in landfill or in the seas, according to the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF).

Indonesia has returned five containers of rubbish to the United States and will not become a "dumping ground", officials said Saturday, the latest Southeast Asian country to return imported waste.

Indonesia has returned five containers of rubbish to the United States and will not become a "dumping ground", officials said Saturday, the latest Southeast Asian country to return imported waste. The containers were supposed to contain only paper scrap, according to the customs documents. Instead, they were loaded with other waste including bottles, plastic waste, and diapers, said senior environment ministry official Sayid Muhadhar. "This is not appropriate and we don't want to be a dumping ground," Muhadhar told AFP. The five containers -- owned by a Canadian company -- were shipped from Seattle in the United States to Indonesia's second biggest city Surabaya in late March, Muhadhar said. It was not immediately clear where the rubbish originated from. Indonesia is currently examining several other containers in Jakarta's port and the city of Batam on the island of Sumatra. It is the latest country to return imported rubbish after neighbouring Malaysia vowed to ship back hundreds of tonnes of plastic waste last month. The Philippines has ordered tonnes of garbage dumped in the country to be shipped back to Canada, sparking a diplomatic row between the two countries. For years China received the bulk of scrap plastic from around the world but closed its doors to foreign refuse last year in an effort to clean up its environment. Huge quantities of waste have since been redirected to Southeast Asia, including Malaysia, Indonesia and to a lesser degree the Philippines. Around 300 million tonnes of plastic are produced every year. Much of that ends up in landfill or in the seas, according to the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF).

Indonesia returns five containers of waste to the US

One school in northeast India has taken a novel approach to address the scourge of plastic waste by making its collection a condition of free attendance. Every week the 110 pupils at the Akshar Forum school outside Dispur in Assam state must bring up to 20 items of plastic gathered from their homes and the local area.

School in Assam demands waste plastic as 'fees'

Hundreds of tonnes of imported plastic waste will be shipped back to where it came from, Malaysia said Tuesday, insisting the country did not want to be a global dumping ground.

Around 300 million tonnes of plastic are produced every year, according to the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF), with much of it ending up in landfill or polluting the seas, in what is becoming a growing international crisis.

China had previously taken a large amount of waste for recycling but abruptly stopped last year, saying it wanted to improve its own environment.

Now Southeast Asian countries that stepped in to plug this gap say they have had enough.

"We urge developed countries to stop shipping garbage to our country," said Yeo Bee Yin, Malaysia's minister of energy, technology, science, environment and climate change, adding it was "unfair and uncivilised".

"We will return it back to the country of origin without any mercy," she said, after an inspection of several waste-filled containers at Port Klang, the country's busiest port.

Plastic imports to Malaysia have tripled since 2016, to 870,000 tonnes last year, official data showed.

The influx has sparked a rapid increase in the number of recycling plants, many of them operating without a licence and with little regard for environmental standards.

Lee Chee Kwang, an activist with Environment Protection Agency Kuala Langat, said Malaysia has "failed miserably" to manage the rubbish coming into the country.

"The government must ban entry of plastic waste and declare it as public enemy number one,” he said.

'Traitors'

While Malaysia allows the import of homogenous and clean waste plastics for the recycling industry, there are growing public calls for the government to ban the import of used plastics altogether.

The country's move to ship the refuse back was "only a symbolic public stunt which does not solve the problem," Lee said. "The solution is a total ban on imports of all kinds of plastic."

Minister Yeo vowed a crackdown on illegal imports and recycling facilities. The Malaysians involved in importing the waste are "traitors", she said.

"Malaysia will not be a dumping ground to the world," Yeo added. "We cannot be bullied by the developed countries."

The ministry said 450 tonnes of contaminated plastic waste in 10 containers -- from Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, China, Japan, Saudi Arabia and the United States -- will be shipped back.

Port officials said their contents were&nbsp;declared but did not give a date for the shipment.

"These containers are filled with contaminated, non-homogenous, low-quality, non-recyclable plastic waste, and are routed to processing facilities which do not have the technology to recycle in an environmentally sound manner," the ministry said.

Malaysia last month sent back five containers filled with plastic waste to Spain. Inspections are being carried out on more than 50 other containers brought in illegally. Yeo said it will take until the end of the year to fully deal with the problem.

She said 150 illegal waste recycling plants had been shut down.&nbsp;But the problem is widespread and citizens are taking action over the plastic influx.

Some 12,000 people in central Selangor state are protesting a recycling factory allowed to operate near their homes, community leader Joshua Tee told AFP.

"Processing such materials produces toxic fumes. Villagers say they are suffering from asthma and itchiness," he said. As little as nine per cent of plastic produced between 1950 and 2015 has been recycled.

Pictures of coral reefs smothered in plastic bags and river systems choked with PET bottles have sparked a growing worldwide awareness of the need to deal with the problem.

Hundreds of tonnes of imported plastic waste will be shipped back to where it came from, Malaysia said Tuesday, insisting the country did not want to be a global dumping ground.

Hundreds of tonnes of imported plastic waste will be shipped back to where it came from, Malaysia said Tuesday, insisting the country did not want to be a global dumping ground. Around 300 million tonnes of plastic are produced every year, according to the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF), with much of it ending up in landfill or polluting the seas, in what is becoming a growing international crisis. China had previously taken a large amount of waste for recycling but abruptly stopped last year, saying it wanted to improve its own environment. Now Southeast Asian countries that stepped in to plug this gap say they have had enough. "We urge developed countries to stop shipping garbage to our country," said Yeo Bee Yin, Malaysia's minister of energy, technology, science, environment and climate change, adding it was "unfair and uncivilised". "We will return it back to the country of origin without any mercy," she said, after an inspection of several waste-filled containers at Port Klang, the country's busiest port. Plastic imports to Malaysia have tripled since 2016, to 870,000 tonnes last year, official data showed. The influx has sparked a rapid increase in the number of recycling plants, many of them operating without a licence and with little regard for environmental standards. Lee Chee Kwang, an activist with Environment Protection Agency Kuala Langat, said Malaysia has "failed miserably" to manage the rubbish coming into the country. "The government must ban entry of plastic waste and declare it as public enemy number one,” he said. 'Traitors' While Malaysia allows the import of homogenous and clean waste plastics for the recycling industry, there are growing public calls for the government to ban the import of used plastics altogether. The country's move to ship the refuse back was "only a symbolic public stunt which does not solve the problem," Lee said. "The solution is a total ban on imports of all kinds of plastic." Minister Yeo vowed a crackdown on illegal imports and recycling facilities. The Malaysians involved in importing the waste are "traitors", she said. "Malaysia will not be a dumping ground to the world," Yeo added. "We cannot be bullied by the developed countries." The ministry said 450 tonnes of contaminated plastic waste in 10 containers -- from Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, China, Japan, Saudi Arabia and the United States -- will be shipped back. Port officials said their contents were declared but did not give a date for the shipment. "These containers are filled with contaminated, non-homogenous, low-quality, non-recyclable plastic waste, and are routed to processing facilities which do not have the technology to recycle in an environmentally sound manner," the ministry said. Malaysia last month sent back five containers filled with plastic waste to Spain. Inspections are being carried out on more than 50 other containers brought in illegally. Yeo said it will take until the end of the year to fully deal with the problem. She said 150 illegal waste recycling plants had been shut down. But the problem is widespread and citizens are taking action over the plastic influx. Some 12,000 people in central Selangor state are protesting a recycling factory allowed to operate near their homes, community leader Joshua Tee told AFP. "Processing such materials produces toxic fumes. Villagers say they are suffering from asthma and itchiness," he said. As little as nine per cent of plastic produced between 1950 and 2015 has been recycled. Pictures of coral reefs smothered in plastic bags and river systems choked with PET bottles have sparked a growing worldwide awareness of the need to deal with the problem.

Malaysia to ship back hundreds of tonnes of plastic waste

Not so fantastic: Can Japan end its love affair with plastic?

Plastic waste fills Indonesian river and 'never stops coming'

Two non-governmental organizations have turned some 10,000 plastic bottles into a community centre in a Panamanian shanty town, aiming to raise awareness about the serious environmental problem that plastic waste represents.

"This is the first community centre to be built out of plastic bottles in all Central America," Trenco Foundation director Carmen Maria Miselem told EFE. "We have to hurry because we will be opening in two weeks and we still have work left to do." The 36-sq. meter (387.5-sq. foot) venue was built using bottles fitted into wood planks that are then filled with concrete, which are later stacked up like bricks. The method doesn't require skilled workers and is simple and inexpensive, as plastic bottles are 40 per cent cheaper than concrete or bricks. The weather-resistant structure meets all Panamanian construction regulations and harnesses the natural light that seeps through the bottles. 
&nbsp;&nbsp; 
"We have a big problem with plastic and waste in general in this country," Miselem said. "We only recycle five per cent of the more than 2,500 tons of trash that we generate per day. This is not sustainable and we need to look for a solution."

"Panama's reality is very tough and not everyone wants to see it," the head of Vivienda y Habitat de Techo said in turn, adding that his country's inequality rate is among the highest in the world. Trenco is mainly dedicated to recycling, while Vivienda y Habitat de Techo focuses on affordable housing and fighting poverty.

According to UN figures, as many as 8 million tons of plastic are dumped into the world's oceans, and the organization estimates that, should the current rate continue, plastic is expected to outnumber fish two to one by 2050.

Two non-governmental organizations have turned some 10,000 plastic bottles into a community centre in a Panamanian shanty town, aiming to raise awareness about the serious environmental problem that plastic waste represents.

Two non-governmental organizations have turned some 10,000 plastic bottles into a community centre in a Panamanian shanty town, aiming to raise awareness about the serious environmental problem that plastic waste represents. "This is the first community centre to be built out of plastic bottles in all Central America," Trenco Foundation director Carmen Maria Miselem told EFE. "We have to hurry because we will be opening in two weeks and we still have work left to do." The 36-sq. meter (387.5-sq. foot) venue was built using bottles fitted into wood planks that are then filled with concrete, which are later stacked up like bricks. The method doesn't require skilled workers and is simple and inexpensive, as plastic bottles are 40 per cent cheaper than concrete or bricks. The weather-resistant structure meets all Panamanian construction regulations and harnesses the natural light that seeps through the bottles. "We have a big problem with plastic and waste in general in this country," Miselem said. "We only recycle five per cent of the more than 2,500 tons of trash that we generate per day. This is not sustainable and we need to look for a solution." "Panama's reality is very tough and not everyone wants to see it," the head of Vivienda y Habitat de Techo said in turn, adding that his country's inequality rate is among the highest in the world. Trenco is mainly dedicated to recycling, while Vivienda y Habitat de Techo focuses on affordable housing and fighting poverty. According to UN figures, as many as 8 million tons of plastic are dumped into the world's oceans, and the organization estimates that, should the current rate continue, plastic is expected to outnumber fish two to one by 2050.

Environmental groups use discarded plastic bottles to build houses in Panama

Another incident made headlines suggesting the gravity of the man-caused threat to the environment. According to reports, a group of birdwatchers spotted a stork in the national capital with a plastic ring around its beak. The bird was not able to eat due to a trapped beak for nearly 5 days.

As per reports, the bird was spotted on June 7 and was finally rescued on June 13. It&nbsp;released into the wild after being kept under observation for some time&nbsp;

The rubber stopper, which accidentally got stuck around the stork's beak, could have come from a bottle or a can, experts note.&nbsp;

Black-necked storks figure on the Red List suggesting their 'near-threatened' status. The birds inhabit wetlands and prey on fish and snails.

<iframe allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZTMdzp8ugXo" width="560"></iframe>

Plastic pollution is one of the major threats to the environment. This year's theme during the World Environment Day called for curbing plastic pollution and mitigating use of plastic articles.&nbsp;

According to a study published in the journal Science in 2015, every year, 8 million metric tons of plastic end up in the oceans "which would be equivalent to five grocery bags filled with plastic for every foot of coastline in the world," as mentioned on an online portal, Plastic Pollution.

Plastic waste poses a severe threat to the environment, marine life, the flora and fauna as well as to human health. The incident of a humble stork's ordeal was just one of the many examples that call for substantial change.&nbsp;

Black-necked storks figure on the Red List suggesting their 'near-threatened' status

Another incident made headlines suggesting the gravity of the man-caused threat to the environment. According to reports, a group of birdwatchers spotted a stork in the national capital with a plastic ring around its beak. The bird was not able to eat due to a trapped beak for nearly 5 days. As per reports, the bird was spotted on June 7 and was finally rescued on June 13. It released into the wild after being kept under observation for some time The rubber stopper, which accidentally got stuck around the stork's beak, could have come from a bottle or a can, experts note. Black-necked storks figure on the Red List suggesting their 'near-threatened' status. The birds inhabit wetlands and prey on fish and snails. Plastic pollution is one of the major threats to the environment. This year's theme during the World Environment Day called for curbing plastic pollution and mitigating use of plastic articles. According to a study published in the journal Science in 2015, every year, 8 million metric tons of plastic end up in the oceans "which would be equivalent to five grocery bags filled with plastic for every foot of coastline in the world," as mentioned on an online portal, Plastic Pollution. Plastic waste poses a severe threat to the environment, marine life, the flora and fauna as well as to human health. The incident of a humble stork's ordeal was just one of the many examples that call for substantial change.

Watch: After nearly 5 days of ordeal, stork with plastic ring around beak gets rescued

When one thinks of used plastic bottles and chips packets, seeing it turn into a road is not the first thing that comes to one&#39;s mind. But it does in Rikesh&#39;s 31-year-old mind. He is the&nbsp;proprietor of Bhutan&#39;s first plastic recycling plant that is building environment-friendly roads using plastic. 
 
The idea involves coating of aggregate with molten waste plastic before it is mixed with bitumen. Besides being an effective solution to plastic waste, the green road project has curtailed the cost of building roads. 
 
Rikesh came across the idea&nbsp;while pursuing his engineering degree&nbsp;in south India. The project took off in October last year and reduced dependence on fossil fuel in the&nbsp;environment-conscious Himalayan nation. 
 
<img alt="" class="img-responsive" src="http://s.wionews.com/photos/%23bethechange_02-20160719102610.jpg" />

 
Roughly eight million tons of plastic is&nbsp;dumped into the world&#39;s oceans every year. The majority of this waste comes from just five countries: China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. China and Indonesia are likely the top sources of plastic reaching the oceans, accounting for more than a third of the plastic bottles, bags and other detritus washed out to sea. The rest, i.e.&nbsp;22 to 43 per cent, of plastic worldwide is disposed of&nbsp;in landfills. 
 
But there are some countries that are trying to do better. For example, Germany&nbsp;claims to recycle and compost 65 per cent&nbsp;of its waste. And even China receives via cargo some 1,500 shipping containers from the US, filled with recyclables that include metals, plastics, rubber, paper, cardboard and textiles, which are used as raw materials by Chinese manufacturers. 
 
Today, the global plastic industry generates revenue of about $600 billion annually, producing products that take 450 years to degrade.&nbsp;In that light,&nbsp;Rikesh&nbsp;definitely is a hero!

Eight million tonnes of plastic is dumped into the world's oceans every year. A Bhutanese man is building a unique path to help

When one thinks of used plastic bottles and chips packets, seeing it turn into a road is not the first thing that comes to one's mind. But it does in Rikesh's 31-year-old mind. He is the proprietor of Bhutan's first plastic recycling plant that is building environment-friendly roads using plastic. The idea involves coating of aggregate with molten waste plastic before it is mixed with bitumen. Besides being an effective solution to plastic waste, the green road project has curtailed the cost of building roads. Rikesh came across the idea while pursuing his engineering degree in south India. The project took off in October last year and reduced dependence on fossil fuel in the environment-conscious Himalayan nation. Roughly eight million tons of plastic is dumped into the world's oceans every year. The majority of this waste comes from just five countries: China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. China and Indonesia are likely the top sources of plastic reaching the oceans, accounting for more than a third of the plastic bottles, bags and other detritus washed out to sea. The rest, i.e. 22 to 43 per cent, of plastic worldwide is disposed of in landfills. But there are some countries that are trying to do better. For example, Germany claims to recycle and compost 65 per cent of its waste. And even China receives via cargo some 1,500 shipping containers from the US, filled with recyclables that include metals, plastics, rubber, paper, cardboard and textiles, which are used as raw materials by Chinese manufacturers. Today, the global plastic industry generates revenue of about $600 billion annually, producing products that take 450 years to degrade. In that light, Rikesh definitely is a hero!

#BeTheChange: The man who turns plastic into roads

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