Endless waste: Although administratively a village in Bekasi city, Indonesia, Bantar Gebang usually refers to the massive trash dump in the area. Every day, some 6,500 tonnes to 7,000 tonnes of waste from the greater Jakarta metropolitan region enters Bantar Gebang. — Photos: Team Ceritalah

Inspectors found 40kg of plastic trash in the stomach of a whale which died after being washed ashore in the Philippines.

Remnants of plastic bags draped across shrubbery in Pontian, Johor.

Close shot of the plastic waste from the author’s bathroom shelf. In 2018, the average Malaysian produced 1.17kg of waste according to the Solid Waste Management and Public Cleansing Corporation.

Plastic revenue: The sector that produces plastic is the petrochemical sector. According to Chemical & Engineering News, the combined revenue from the top 50 petrochemical firms were US$926.8bil, far exceeding the refining industry’s figure of US$400bil.

More than 7,000 scavengers lend assistance at the rubbish bins in Bantar Gebang. -Photos by Team Ceritalah

MAIN PIX

A collection of plastic waste from the author’s bathroom. Most of these plastics fall under the PET categorisation and can be recycled in Malaysia.

Cross section of an albatross showing the amount of plastic debris ingested by the animal - plastic pollution leads to the deaths of millions of marine bird species each year. - Chris Jordan/Smithsonian