The appearance of an “unprecedented” deluge of trash floating up on the southern beaches of Hong Kong in the first days of July came with name tags—countless indications of where they had come from.
Local environmentalists have encouraged people to document the trash so as to “build a picture“ of the situation across Hong Kong. Photos and video taken by locals shows vast quantities of garbage littering multiple beaches in what has been called a ”solidified oil spill” of plastic.
According to local authorities, the “glacier of trash” came from illegal and legal landfills in both mainland China and Hong Kong. But the sheer volume of the refuse—which on one island resembled a landslide and could be seen from outer space, has focused attention on its mainland origins.
