By Mark Gray
12:01pm PDT, Apr 28, 2024
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Indonesia is one of the world's largest contributors to marine plastic pollution.
According to estimates by the Indonesian Institute of Sciences, about 8 million tons of plastic are thrown into the ocean every year, and the Southeast Asia country accounts for more than 600,000 tons of that. During the rainy season, trash and debris wash up on shorelines due to illegal dumping in rivers and waterways.
Here, a woman is seen drinking water while collecting plastic waste to sell to a recycling center at a landfill in North Sumatra, Indonesia.
The theme for World Earth Day 2024 is Planet v Plastics, which makes Indonesia ground zero for the environmental cause.
Keep reading to see stunning images of the pollution in Indonesia...
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A cow eats garbage at a disposal site in the Lhoknga region in Indonesia on March 26, 2024.
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A staff member from the environmental organization Sungai Watch holds the lids of PET plastic bottles that were collected by their river barriers and sorted for recycling, at one of their sorting centers in Beraban on the Indonesian resort island of Bali on Dec. 22, 2023. The organization's trash barriers, collection, sorting and up-cycling system aims to slow plastic pollution from going into the ocean.
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A man searches for plastic waste to sell to a recycling center at a landfill in North Sumatra, Indonesia, on March 27, 2024.
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Boys play in the Deli River stream, which is polluted by plastic waste, in Medan, North Sumatra, Indonesia, on Feb. 26, 2024.
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A girl walks amongst plastic waste at a polluted shore during monsoon season in Bali, Indonesia, on March 19, 2024.
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A man fishes in a polluted river in Jakarta, Indonesia, on Aug. 23, 2023.
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A man sits near a trash-polluted shoreline in Bali, Indonesia, on March 19, 2024.
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A man collects plastic trash on the beach in Bali, Indonesia, on March 19, 2024.
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Goats search for food in a pile of rubbish in Banten, Indonesia, on Dec. 29, 2023.
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A beach is littered with plastic in Bali, Indonesia, on March 19, 2024.
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Trash floats in the water near the resort town of Bali, Indonesia, on March 19, 2024.
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A man looks through plastic and other debris at Kedonganan Beach in Bali, Indonesia, on March 19, 2024.
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Trash piles up on a shoreline in Bali, Indonesia, on March 19, 2024.
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Workers collect plastic waste at Galuga landfill in Bogor, West Java, Indonesia, on Feb. 20, 2024.
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A man carries discarded plastics to waste collectors in Bali, Indonesia, on Jan. 20, 2024.
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Residents discuss air pollution and the Suralaya coal-fired power plant in Cilegon in Indonesia's Banten province on Oct. 31, 2023.
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A child pulls rubbish at the polluted Labuan Beach in Teluk Village in Banten, Indonesia, on Dec. 29, 2023.
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A cat looks for food in a pile of rubbish littering Labuan Beach in Teluk Village in Banten, Indonesia, on Dec. 29, 2023.
