In slums across India, Nigeria, Indonesia, Brazil, and the Philippines, millions of impoverished households are resorting to burning plastic waste for cooking and heating due to skyrocketing fuel prices and a lack of affordable alternatives. This practice releases toxic pollutants such as dioxins, furans, and heavy metals, which are linked to severe respiratory diseases, cancer, and neurological disorders. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), indoor air pollution contributes to 3.2 million premature deaths annually, with the highest toll in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. In cities like Delhi, Lagos, and Jakarta, air quality is further degraded by black carbon emissions from plastic combustion, worsening already hazardous pollution levels.
Governments and environmental organizations are pushing for urgent solutions to combat this crisis. India and Indonesia are expanding LPG subsidy programs to provide cleaner cooking fuel to low-income households, while Nigeria and Brazil are investing in waste-to-energy projects to reduce plastic waste and generate electricity. NGOs like Waste Aid and the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA) are promoting community-based recycling and biogas solutions as sustainable alternatives. Experts stress that long-term solutions require better waste management, affordable clean energy access, and stricter enforcement of environmental laws to protect vulnerable communities from the devastating health and climate impacts of plastic waste burning. More