Mounting marine pollution is choking the world’s oceans and rivers, especially in Southeast Asia — and it’ll only get worse unless something changes. Countries along the Mekong River have become the world’s dumping ground for waste. Rubbish is finding its way into the water — killing marine animals and clogging up animals with plastic that are later eaten by humans. And it only got worse during the pandemic. COVID-19 has caused plastic waste to surge in Southeast Asia, particularly with the widespread disposal of single-use face masks, takeaway food containers, and packaging from online shopping. In April 2020, Bangkok’s daily average of 2,115 tonnes of single-use plastics waste per day . Lockdowns halted in Southeast Asian countries such as the Philippines and Vietnam. Even before pandemic-driven waste, only nine percent of all plastic packaging was recycled and about 12 percent is incinerated. The accumulates in landfills, dumps and the natural environment. A lot of this waste, particularly plastic, finds its way into our oceans. As much as 13 million tonnes of plastic enters our oceans annually, according to a . Marine plastic pollution is a major transboundary problem, costing an . Some 267 species of marine animals — such as turtles, whales, fish and seabirds — have been adversely impacted by plastic debris through entanglement or ingestion, although this number will invariably increase as smaller species are studied. Humans are also swallowing plastic when eating these animals, which . This debris is creating huge ocean patches and plastics are also washing onto shores. of the waste is land-based and will have made its way to the ocean through rivers and other waterways. By 2050, plastic will outweigh fish in the oceans if current trends persist . Three of the – China, Thailand, and Vietnam — have a presence in Mekong, and many Southeast Asian countries have become dumping grounds of the world’s plastic waste. As highlighted by the in 2019, waste across Southeast Asia is causing contaminated water, failed crops, and respiratory illnesses. Fish are ingesting plastic. Dead whales are turning up in Thailand and Indonesia with many kilograms of plastics in their stomachs. The region’s transboundary governance of marine plastic pollution is not working. There is no plastics treaty with at an international level. The fossil fuel and plastic industries have successfully pushed back against policies that would curb plastic consumption, such as . Instead, these well-funded industries have aimed at convincing consumers to take responsibility for their own waste. Collective action from governing bodies in Southeast Asia remains limited. In January 2019, ASEAN countries and plastic pollution in the region with the Bangkok Declaration. Yet ASEAN itself acknowledges the challenges of addressing marine plastic pollution are tremendous and difficult to achieve, especially as its own s of individual countries and a non-confrontational approach to addressing transboundary environmental issues. Asia takes on , often from wealthy countries without the processing capacity to do so domestically. For instance, the United Kingdom exports about . Since July 2017, when China began to ban imports of plastic waste, Southeast Asia has become a dumping ground for wealthier countries’ waste. After China’s ban, the amount of plastic waste imported to countries like the Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia . As foreign waste built up and resentment grew among local populations, Southeast Asian governments started refusing to serve as the world’s dumpsite. Malaysia and the Philippines have that had improper labelling to Spain and South Korea, respectively, and Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam have also restricted plastic waste imports, with a complete ban planned in the coming years. However, changes that are required to drastically improve these countries’ plastic management have yet to occur. Single-use plastic consumption is still high in these countries. Comprehensive bans or taxes, such as on single-use bags, are few to non-existent. Voluntary measures have often been promoted, but are still showing . These countries’ waste management is also . Recycling rates throughout the world, but especially in Southeast Asia, remain low. In many places, there is no separation of household waste. Littering remains pervasive. At the household and community scales, inadequate infrastructure contributes significantly to the plastic pollution problem. Rubbish bins are often too small, uncovered and infrequently collected. Many Southeast Asian dumpsites are unprepared to deal with the burgeoning volumes of plastic waste. Of Thailand’s 27.8 million tonnes of plastic waste in 2018, , including via open dumping.