Do you know anything about waste crime? No? That’s exactly what they want you to think. While you are primarily concerned with distinguishing which items go in which containers and wondering whether pizza boxes can go in blue bins (spoiler alert: they can’t – they’re too greasy), there is a huge underground economy operating with our garbage.

The illegal waste industry is worth billions — where corporate interests, governments, and criminal organizations profit from dumping, burning, and moving waste abroad — typically to the Global South. If you thought the mafia was only interested in casinos and cars, think again.

Image Credits: Jas Min by Unsplash

Trash = Cash: The Business of Dirty Money

We produce approximately 2 billion tons of waste each year and it has to be disposed of somewhere. We’d like to think that landfills and recycling centers are addressing this waste appropriately, but the reality is that a significant amount of our waste is simply dumped illegally or transported to other countries where it pollutes communities.

Here’s where it gets a little unsavory.

A lot of companies find it cheaper to simply dump their waste (illegally) rather than pay disposal fees. All of this leads to corrupt deal-making between waste management companies, governments, and sometimes organized crime. For example, in Italy, the Camorra Mafia takes care of a large portion of the waste in the country by dumping it illegally, including large amounts of toxic waste in an area now known as the Triangle of Death—an area that suffers from a high incidence of cancer due to environmental pollution.

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E-Waste Smuggling: The Real-Life Cyberpunk Dystopia

Consider your old mobile phone or that poor laptop that you threw away long ago: what happened to it? Perhaps you’re picturing a tidy recycling plant? Sorry to ruin the illusion. San Francisco's e-waste study indicates that about 50 million tons of e-waste is produced each year worldwide, and a significant amount is shipped to Ghana, Nigeria, India, and other parts of the world illegally disguised as "second-hand goods."

The reality is that the electronics are so badly damaged that they can't be refurbished—they are dismantled in toxic scrap yards by a workforce that is often less than ideal, including children. Large amounts of heavy metals like lead, mercury, and arsenic vapor are inhaled by the workforce as they recover several grams of precious metals.

Have you heard of Agbogbloshie in Ghana? It's touted to be one of the largest e-waste dumps in the world for discarded smartphones, TVs, and computers from the United States and Europe. The workers burn the electronics to access the metals, exposing themselves to hundreds of toxic gases released in the air and water. Meanwhile, corporations and governments can turn their heads because it isn't in their backyards, right?

Image Credits: Jonathan Lambert by NPR

Plastic Waste: The Great Dumping Game

Do you recall that in 2018, China stopped accepting the world's plastic waste? That was the situation for wealthy countries' reliance on others to clean up after them. The U.S., UK, and Europe very quickly started shipping their plastic waste to Southeast Asia, with countries like Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines now drowning in trash. The Philippines put a pile of garbage on a ship back to Canada in 2019.

But many don't push back. In many cases, corrupt officials can be bribed to simply accept illegal shipments and huge landfills accumulate waste, leaching chemicals into drinking water and choking marine animals. The worst part about this? Many of these same Western countries are promoting "sustainability," while simultaneously treating lower-income nations like landfills.

Why Isn’t This a Bigger Deal?

It is far too easy to dismiss what is not visible. Out of sight, out of mind. The individuals who are subjected to illegal waste dumping—low-income neighborhoods, children in scrapyards, families drinking contaminated water—do not have the resources or power to resist. Corporations greenwash themselves by promoting a useless recycling program while continuing to exacerbate the waste issue.

Let’s be honest, if wealthy countries were faced with managing all their waste, the discussion would focus more intently on the urgent conversation of overconsumption and sustainability.

What Can We Do?

Certainly, you might not be able to single-handedly dismantle the waste mafia, but you can still do a lot:

1. Reduce E-Waste: Sell, donate, or repair your old electronics instead of throwing them away. Buy refurbished whenever possible.
2. Stop Plastic Overload: Support companies that use sustainable packaging and avoid one-time plastics.
3. Demand Transparency: Call out brands that rely on waste exporting and advocate for stricter environmental regulations.
4. Educate Yourself & Others: The more people that are aware of the situation, the more difficult it is to ignore. Share this article. Talk about it.

Waste is not just a problem, it's a business—a shady one. But the more we shine light on it, the more difficult it is for those in power to keep it swept under the rug (which is totally full of trash).