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Rampant trash burning chokes humans, planet but still taken lightly
If dioxins are inhaled, it can instantly cause coughing, shortness of breath and dizziness. Long-term exposure to dioxins can also cause cancer. Not only that, the gas also causes air pollution that could damage the ozone layer and eventually contribute to the greenhouse effect.
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Two scavengers collect trash at the Burangkeng dump site in Burangkeng, a village in Bekasi regency, West Java, on Aug. 1. (JP/Budi Sutrisno)
W
hen it comes to disposing of trash, some of us might opt for the quick and easy way, burning it. Trash burning is still very common in Greater Jakarta where people often burn trash on vacant land in packed residential areas despite its harmful effect on both people and the environment and the fact that it is illegal.
A recent news report stated that an infant in Sindang Jaya district in Tangerang, Banten, was found to be suffering from an acute respiratory infection (ISPA) thought to have been caused by inhaling fumes from the burning of hazardous and toxic waste (B3).
The family of the one-month-old baby lived some 150 meters from a plot of land where people burned B3 waste. Some residents said the practice had been going on for years, some even said burning trash was their source of income.
“People salvage the good quality plastic [waste], then burn the rest,” a resident named Muslimah said recently as quoted by kompas.com.
Enjoying fresh and clean air in the morning is impossible in the area, Muslimah added, because people usually burned the trash at night with the fumes lingering until the next morning. There are dozens of burning spots within the area.
Such acts are actually punishable by law as the government, at both the central and regional level, has a set of legal instruments that ban people from burning waste.
