To the Editor,

Your recent article, South Korea’s Plastic Problem is a Literal Trash Fire itself reflects the careless way in which we treat environmental issues worldwide. The story it tells of this black market garbage pile is not the one begging to be told —  a story of systematic neglect. Rather, we read a tale of simple Band-Aid fixes, paired with lamentations of if only we had known.

This massive combusting garbage pile in Uiseong did not spontaneously appear; it was the result of a series of poor attempts to mitigate pollution. The article highlights a number of regulations — from strict cutbacks in waste incineration to international waste import bans — but nowhere in this list of pollution mitigation strategies do we see an attempt to solve the underlying problem of South Korea’s surplus waste. These so-called solutions only address the symptoms, and have resulted in a combusting trash pile rather than a decrease in waste.

The exploding trash heap that’s given the spotlight here is a story that is replayed by many nations that have failed to fix a broken system. Your writer succeeds in highlighting the ways environmental policies fail, but like these policies, it doesn’t conclude with a call for a true fix. What’s needed is a systematic change — a deep industrial restructuring and an effort to reduce waste before it’s created, not once it’s spontaneously combusting and threatening lives.

You get points for telling this story, but like so many others it will fade into oblivion as more waste piles up, and frankly, there are more important things to take away from a 170,000 ton garbage heap than a lone fist shaking at the ‘what ifs.’

https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/02/asia/south-korea-trash-ships-intl/index.html