Written by Paige Buckley

Introduction

Over the last fifty years, wealthy industrialized countries have generated massive amounts of plastic waste and exported it abroad to avoid domestic costs of handling it at the expense of less developed countries.¹See Zhaoyin Feng & Hasya Nindita, Tracing ‘Waste Colonialism’ in Southeast Asia, GlobalVoices (Sep. 1, 2025), https://globalvoices.org/2025/09/01/tracing-waste-colonialism-in-southeast-asia (on file with American University International Law Review) (explaining this practice as “waste colonialism,” where these wealthy countries shift pollution burdens onto countries with fewer resources and weaker regulatory capacity). This issue is primarily governed by the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal (Convention), adopted in 1989.²See generally Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal, Mar. 22, 1989, 1673 U.N.T.S. 40 [hereinafter Basel Convention]. The Convention seeks to restrict the international shipping of “hazardous waste,” promote the overall reduction of waste, and encourage countries to manage their waste domestically rather than by exporting it.³See Travis Wagner, Basel Convention, EBSCO, https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/law/basel-convention (on file with American University International Law Review) (last updated 2026) (outlining the substantive goals of the treaty); Basel Convention, supra note 2, Annex I (defining hazardous waste). Indonesia, as a party to the Convention, abides by the treaty’s prior informed consent (PIC) system which requires written consent from any importing country before a shipment can proceed.⁴See Basel Convention, supra note 2, art. 6 (outlining the requirement for written consent prior to transboundary movement). Shipments made without this consent constitute “illegal traffic,” which parties must treat as criminal under their domestic law.⁵See Basel Convention, supra note 2, art. 9 (defining illegal traffic as “any transboundary movement of hazardous wastes or other wastes” that occur without proper notice or consent, through “falsification” or “misrepresentation,” or otherwise non-compliant with required procedures).

For years, much of this waste flowed into China, but after China’s 2018 import ban, shipments rerouted into Southeast Asia.⁶Michael Neilson, Indonesia’s Ban on Importing Plastic Waste Met With Cautious Optimism From Campaigners, The Diplomat (Mar. 4, 2025), https://thediplomat.com/2025/03/indonesias-ban-on-importing-plastic-waste-met-with-cautious-optimism-from-campaigners (on file with American University International Law Review). Indonesia is now confronting much of the same problems as China had prior to the ban, with the mishandling of contaminated imports resulting in serious consequences for both human health and the environment.⁷See Feng & Nindita, supra note 1 (describing the toxic contamination of the air and danger to human health in 2017 which led to China’s ban). In response, Indonesia announced it would end plastic waste imports effective January 1, 2025, with limited exceptions.⁸Neilson, supra note 6. Indonesia’s recent plastic import ban will be ineffective unless implemented through the Convention’s framework by subjecting plastic-contaminated “paper” imports to the PIC system and treating misclassified shipments as “illegal traffic” to be refused entry and sent back to the exporting countries.⁹See Basel Convention, supra note 2, arts. 6, 9.

Background

In 2024 alone, Indonesia received more than 200,000 tons of plastic waste, the majority from Australia, Japan, and the European Union.¹⁰Neilson, supra note 6. This imported plastic is often inadequately handled and the local workers who sort it, frequently without protective equipment, face serious health risks.¹¹Feng & Nindita, supra note 1. Moreover, the plastic is more likely to be burned instead of recycled, a process that releases toxic fumes linked to respiratory problems, skin conditions, and other chronic illnesses.¹²Id. Although Indonesia has capped plastic contamination in imported paper waste at two percent since 2006, contamination rates reportedly still reach as high as thirty-five percent due to misclassification and weak enforcement.¹³Primagung Dary Riliananda & Garry Lotulung, Not Our Trash: Indonesia’s Struggle With the World’s Plastic Waste, Fair Planet (July 9, 2025), https://www.fairplanet.org/story/not-our-trash-indonesias-struggle-with-the-worlds-plastic-waste (on file with American University International Law Review).  In response, Indonesia announced the 2025 plastic waste import ban.¹⁴Sheany Yasuko Lai, Indonesia to Make Plastic Recycling Mandatory for Producers, Arab News, https://www.arabnews.com/node/2612415/world (on file with American University International Law Review) (last updated Aug. 20, 2025). However, critics warn that the ban could simply shift exports to neighboring countries like Malaysia, and that it still fails to address the ongoing problem of paper imports contaminated with plastic.¹⁵Michael Neilson, Toxic Tofu? How Plastic Waste From the West Fuels Food Factories in Indonesia, The Guardian (May 9, 2025), https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2025/may/10/tofu-plastic-indonesia (on file with American University International Law Review); Neilson, supra note 6.

In May 2019, the parties to the Convention adopted the Plastic Waste Amendments (Plastic Amendments), which took effect on January 1, 2021, expanding PIC requirements over plastic waste.¹⁶Basel Convention Plastic Waste Amendments, Basel Convention, https://www.basel.int/Implementation/Plasticwaste/Amendments/Overview/tabid/8426/Default.aspx, (on file with American University International Law Review) (last visited Feb. 25, 2026). The Plastic Amendments revised the Convention to classify non-hazardous plastic waste that is mixed, contaminated, or containing halogenated polymers under Annex II, and hazardous plastic waste under Annex IX; both subject to PIC.¹⁷See id. (explaining the amendments do not impose a ban on the import or export of plastic waste but instead clarify when and how the Convention applies). The last category, which is not subject to PIC, is the revision of Annex IX to include clean, non-hazardous, and sorted plastic waste destined for recycling.¹⁸New International Requirements for the Export and Import of Plastic Recyclables and Waste, Env’t Prot. Agency,  https://www.epa.gov/hwgenerators/new-international-requirements-export-and-import-plastic-recyclables-and-waste#fq4 (on file with American University International Law Review) (last updated Aug. 28, 2025). Overall, the Plastic Amendments were intended to reduce mislabeling shipments and prevent wealthy countries from unloading plastics onto nations with limited capacity for environmentally-safe management.¹⁹See Overview, Basel Convention, https://www.basel.int/Implementation/Plasticwaste/Overview/tabid/8347/Default.aspx (on file with American University International Law Review) (last visited Feb. 25, 2026) (highlighting plastic waste as a global environmental problem in need of being addressed). Since the Plastic Amendments took effect, most plastic waste coming into Indonesia is presumed to be subject to PIC as “other waste” under Annex II.²⁰Paul Hagen, et al., Basel Convention Recasts the Circular Economy for Plastics, Beveridge & Diamond (May 15, 2019), https://www.bdlaw.com/publications/basel-convention-recasts-the-circular-economy-for-plastics (on file with American University International Law Review). While the Convention’s main source of administration is through the PIC system, the Ban Amendment, which came into force in December 2019, prohibits the shipment of “hazardous waste” from certain parties listed in Annex VII, such as the EU, to parties not listed in Annex VII of the Convention.²¹Aaron Goldberg, et al., Basel Ban Amendment to Restrict International Trade in Hazardous Recyclables, Beveridge & Diamond (Sep. 10, 2019), https://www.bdlaw.com/publications/basel-ban-amendment-to-restrict-international-trade-in-hazardous-recyclables (on file with American University International Law Review). Importantly, however, the Ban Amendment does not apply to “other wastes” under Annex II.²²Id. Since most plastic waste is now categorized as “other waste” under the Plastic Amendments, it is generally not covered by the Ban Amendment unless it is contaminated with or else is hazardous waste.²³Id.

Analysis

Indonesia’s plastic import ban will be ineffective without measures to address paper waste shipments contaminated with plastic, which are still being illegally imported into the country.²⁴Riliananda, supra note 13. Since Indonesia has both ratified the Ban Amendment and is not listed on Annex VII, it may not accept “hazardous waste” from Annex VII parties.²⁵See The Entry Into Force of the Basel Ban Amendment: A Guide to Implications and Next Steps, Int’l Pollutants Elimination Network (Jan. 2020), https://ipen.org/sites/default/files/documents/ban-basel-fact-sheet-v2_1-en.pdf (on file with American University International Law Review). Ideally, although misclassified “paper waste” may not currently qualify as “hazardous waste” under the Ban Amendment, the substantial risks associated with handling these plastic-contaminated shipments in Indonesia justify revising the classification of this waste to meet the Amendment’s threshold, and thus be prevented from being shipped to countries like Indonesia, according to the Convention.²⁶See Wagner, supra note 3 (underscoring the broad definition of hazardous waste under the Convention to include anything that is hazardous in the exporting or importing country).

Even without the Ban Amendment, Indonesia can still strengthen the 2025 ban by treating “paper waste” shipments with plastic contamination as the “transboundary movement” of “other waste” through “misrepresentation.”²⁷Basel Convention, supra note 2. Therefore, as “illegal traffic,” these shipments would trigger refusal from the importing nation, obligation to return the shipments to the exporting nation, and sufficient penalties to deter repeat violations.²⁸Id. Moreover, because these “mixed” and “contaminated” shipments are subject to PIC under the Plastic Amendments, and Indonesia has not consented to their import, these exporting countries are in violation of the Convention, and thus greater domestic enforcement measures must be upheld to hold the exporters accountable.²⁹Basel Convention, supra note 2. However, strengthening enforcement in Indonesia alone may divert exports to neighboring countries, and therefore regional cooperation is needed to reduce the incentive to seek out the least regulated port. Moreover, the Convention’s core premise is waste minimization and domestic responsibility, thus exporting nations should focus on domestic reform and stop relying on Southeast Asia as a dumping ground for their waste.³⁰Wagner, supra note 3.

Conclusion

Indonesia’s 2025 plastic import ban could mark a meaningful shift away from being a destination for wealthy countries’ plastic waste, but the ban’s success depends on whether the country treats misclassified “paper” shipments as mixed waste that should fall under the Convention’s plastic controls and likely qualify as illegal traffic. If Indonesia pairs its ban with strong verification, illegal-traffic enforcement, and regional coordination, it has the potential to create a functioning classification system that will reduce the health and environmental harms that have come from these contaminated waste imports.