Coconut Islands in a waste dilemma: the Australian holiday paradise is sinking into waste

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There are figures that are worrying: in 2019, a study by the University of Tasmania found that the beaches of the Cocos Islands, which belong to Australia, are littered with an estimated 414 million pieces of plastic waste. There are 238 tons of plastic waste lying around everywhere, including 977,000 shoes and 373,000 toothbrushes. Even in the jungle you can find trash.

The problem is exacerbated by the fact that huge amounts of plastic waste are washing up on beaches. The University of Western Australia concluded in a 2021 study that the Cocos Islands are among the Indian Ocean islands most affected by beach litter.

The military should help clean up trash

That’s not all: old refrigerators, washing machines and bicycles pile up in the archipelago’s landfills. According to a report by the editorial network Germany, there are more than forty boats, hundreds of broken buggies, quads and cars, ten large trucks and even a bus rusting on the islands. The holiday paradise is increasingly turning into a Güsel hell. Because: There is no longer room for all the waste. Only two of the 27 Cocos Islands are populated.

“It is, in a word, a nightmare,” said Frank Mills, head of the archipelago’s administration, in an interview with Australian broadcaster ABC. Currently, as much plastic waste as possible is burned in addition to the other household waste of the 600 islanders.

To get rid of the Güsel problem, the Cocos Islands want to call on the Australian army in the future. The army knows that the islands are strategically located and can play an important role in defense policy in the future, like a kind of Australian Pearl Harbor.

Experts call for reconsideration

The Army is currently modernizing the main runway on the main island of West Island. Ships transport construction equipment and supplies to the islands. The islanders would be more than happy to load the ships with their waste. According to ABC, the military is not against this idea.

But that doesn’t go far enough for waste management expert Jeff Seadon. He demands a change in behavior from the islanders. People need to think about what happens to a product when it reaches the end of its life – even when the product arrives on the island.

The Cocos Islands are located more than 2000 kilometers from the Australian mainland. The archipelago is said to have been discovered in 1609 by the British William Keeling (1578–1620). That is why the islands are also called the Keeling Islands.

Source: Blick