Burning Ambition: Timor-Leste’s Waste Management Problem
While plastic consumption needs to be reduced, the real challenge is improving waste management.
Source: Supplied Tuesday, 25 May 2021 09:40 AM
Fifty kilometres east of Dili is the site of one of Timor-Leste’s most renowned scuba diving locations.
It is reached via the nearby Santo Antonio Grotto rest stop where timber-slat huts sell plastic bottled water and noodles in Styrofoam cups. Directly behind the shops are mountains of burning plastic packaging in a seasonally-dry river bed waitin.
In Timor-Leste, there is a growing plastic waste crisis. The issue is crucial for Timor-Leste’s tourism potential based on the nation’s relatively unexploited marine and terrestrial environments.