Household burning of plastic waste in developing world is hidden health threat, study shows

The household burning of plastic for heating and cooking is widespread in developing countries, suggests a global study that raises concerns about its health and environmental impacts.

The research, published in the journal Nature Communications, surveyed more than 1,000 respondents across 26 countries.

One in three people reported being aware of households burning plastic, while 16% said they had burned plastic themselves.

Respondents worked closely with low-income urban neighbourhoods and included researchers, government workers and community leaders.

Dr Bishal Bharadwaj, the lead author of the study and a research associate at the University of Calgary, said the work provided broad global evidence on households burning plastic, a practice that had been “difficult to get accurate data on”.

“When families can’t afford cleaner fuels and have no reliable waste collection, plastic becomes both a nuisance and a last-resort energy source. We found evidence of people burning everything from plastic bags and wrappers to bottles and packaging, just to meet basic household needs,” Bharadwaj said in a statement.

“The practice is far more widespread than anyone realised, but because it happens in marginalised communities and is often hidden, it has escaped meaningful global attention despite the severe risks to health and the environment.”

The researchers surveyed people in low- and middle-income countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America, and suggest that plastic burning “does not result solely from energy poverty, but also represents a vital informal solution in many settings to cope with … a high rate of mismanaged plastic”.

The study’s authors highlighted health risks such as inhalation of toxic emissions in confined spaces as well as contamination of food. Burning plastic releases noxious compounds such as dioxins, furans and heavy metals, while previous research has identified toxic compounds in egg samples near plastic burn sites.

The researchers described the work as “an initial step toward filling critical knowledge gaps in this domain”, but noted that more work was needed to give a true sense of the “scale and distribution of plastic waste burning”.

Prof Peta Ashworth, the director of the Curtin Institute for Energy Transition in Perth and a study co-author, described the burning as resulting from a “confluence of issues”.

“Part of the reason is because these people are more vulnerable and they just don’t have the funds to be able to purchase any form of clean cooking [fuel],” she said, adding that growing plastic pollution and inadequate waste disposal were also contributing factors.

Global plastic waste is projected to almost triple by 2060, according to the OECD. Ashworth said governments needed to improve waste management programs as well as “access to other clean cooking, through subsidies and other interventions”.

Educational campaigns highlighting the hazards of burning plastic and introducing new technologies for cleaner plastic burning are also solutions, the researchers suggest.

“As rapid urbanisation continues to outpace the expansion of essential services in many regions, the urgency of implementing these measures will only intensify.”