The US keeps sending millions of pounds of plastic to Indonesia, even after the country banned plastic waste imports. Villagers burn it to cook tofu, contaminating a beloved staple with deadly toxins.
00:01Tofu has been a staple food in Indonesia for hundreds of years.
00:06But in the country's second-largest city, it has become toxic.
00:12Trash shipped in from the U.S., Europe, and Australia fuels the furnaces that cook the dish.
00:21Under a microscope, the microplastics are visible on all the surfaces the tofu touches.
00:29Indonesia has banned plastic imports.
00:32But the U.S. still illegally ships about 5 million pounds of plastic here in a single month.
00:49So why is Indonesia at the heart of the world's trash trade?
00:53And how is it poisoning the local food chain?
00:59There are about 60 factories churning out tofu here in Troporo Village.
01:05Takim has worked at many of them since he was 16.
01:10He lives at the factory, like many workers here, because he came from a village almost 200 miles away just for this work.
01:19They start by washing soybeans, the base of tofu.
01:24Many factories get them straight from Argentina or the U.S. for about 27 cents a pound.
01:30The imported variety is actually cheaper.
01:31The beans are also bigger and richer in protein.
01:33Workers soak them overnight to soften them up.
01:37And then grind them into a paste.
01:38These men get paid just over $2 a day.
01:40That was Takim's only job for two whole years.
01:44Becoming one of the cooks is a rite of passage.
01:45They get paid over $12 a day.
01:46They get paid just over $12 a day.
01:47They get paid just over $12 a day.
01:48They get paid just over $12 a day.
01:49That was Takim's only job for two whole years.
01:54Becoming one of the cooks is a rite of passage.
01:57They get paid over $12 a day if they work fast.
02:01In this part of Indonesia, that's a dollar above the minimum wage, which can be hard to come by here.
02:08They get paid just over $12 a day if they work fast.
02:13In this part of Indonesia, that's a dollar above the minimum wage, which can be hard to come by here.
02:21Next, they pump the soybean paste into one of these concrete basins.
02:28These are heated by furnaces that use plastic trash as fuel.
02:42Muhammad Gufron, who runs this factory, pays $9 for a truckload from a nearby dump.
02:49That plastic lasts him about a day.
02:59But it's still much cheaper than wood, which costs more than twice as much.
03:05And they would need a lot of it.
03:08Because this paste has to get really hot before it separates into pulp and this soybean water.
03:14Workers drain the mixture into this cheesecloth, and swirl it around, to remove as much water as possible.
03:23It's hot when it's hot.
03:27Workers get covered in this liquid as it sprays everywhere.
03:32Many develop a skin fungus that forms painful blisters.
03:44People who work here are also breathing in toxic fumes all day long.
03:47People who work here are also breathing in toxic fumes all day long.
03:51We are going to measure the air pollution.
03:58Daru Setiorini works for Ekoton, a local environmental group that tracks pollution in the area.
04:11The standard is 150 micrograms.
04:24But this reads 1,500.
04:28That means there are 10 times more particles, like microplastics and other toxic chemicals, floating in the air than the safe limit set by the World Health Organization and by the Indonesian government.
04:45As part of Ekoton's research, Daru tests these surfaces too.
04:50She sets out a petri dish, usually for about 8 hours, to capture falling particles.
04:57This time, she left it here for just 30 minutes, and then took it back to the lab for testing.
05:04This is one of the microplastics, which is fiber.
05:10This is also a film of microplastics.
05:14This is also a film of microplastics.
05:15This is also a film of microplastics.
05:18It is used by bacteria, pathogens, viruses, and proteins around it.
05:26Those microplastics and the contaminants they attract all end up in this tofu.
05:33So when people eat tofu, the microplastics will be a bad impact to our hormone system, digestive system, and our reproductive system as well.
05:44It can cause infertility in the male.
05:49Despite the risks, tofu production hasn't stopped.
05:55Once the men have strained the pulp, they add fermented coconut water to the leftover soybean liquid.
06:03Within minutes, the mixture congeals into curds.
06:08Workers scoop those out, and transfer them to these molds.
06:12The men don't use any measuring tools.
06:18They have to eyeball how much they scoop in.
06:25If it does, Takim has to redo the batch.
06:27And he doesn't get paid for what he throws out.
06:31The tofu curds are pressed between layers of cheesecloth.
06:34Stacking the crates squeezes out excess water, forming these solid blocks of tofu.
06:36Women take over for the next step.
06:37Women take over for the next step.
06:41They use rusty grill grates to cut the chunks of tofu into even rectangles.
06:46And then…
06:47They pack the egg yolk.
06:48And the элем integrity of the beef.
06:49They blast the egg yolk.
06:50They alsoатukeau там, using the Blue Cinnamon Cook.
06:51The tofu curds are pressed between layers of cheesecloth.
06:52The tofu curds are pressed between layers of cheesecloth.
06:53The crates squeezes out excess water, forming these solid blocks of tofu.
06:57Women take over for the next step.
06:58of tofu. Women take over for the next step. They use rusty grill grates to cut
07:06the chunks of tofu into even rectangles.
07:14And then they package it. The Indonesian government hasn't managed to stop the
07:20practice of cooking tofu in toxic environments. The country banned burning
07:26plastic outside in 2008. But tofu factories do it in furnaces. So it's mostly out of
07:34sight. And it helps solve a huge national problem. Getting rid of trash that isn't
07:41even supposed to be here. A lot of the trash in Indonesia comes from places like Europe,
07:48Australia, and the United States, which started shipping its waste here in the early 2000s.
07:55Indonesia's lax environmental regulations and low labor costs made doing that cheaper.
08:02Western nations started exporting even more here in 2018, after China banned plastic waste imports,
08:12turning the country into one of the world's top dumping grounds. A lot of this plastic is single
08:19use. And cannot be recycled even in countries with developed infrastructure.
08:24I think this one, Uni Europa. This is from Italy.
08:30Even the kinds that are recyclable often don't get processed here.
08:35Indonesia already have problems with our own domestics. We have lack of capacity. They keep adding more
08:42burden to us. It's really irresponsible. In 2019, the situation got so bad, Indonesia rejected 58 container
08:52ships carrying trash from the United States. But reportedly, only 12 made it back. Many of the
08:59the rest were dumped in other developing countries. To stem the flow, Indonesia banned all plastic trash imports
09:07as of 2025. But they keep coming anyway. Sometimes importers bribe customs officers to get plastic in more
09:17easily, according to one report. Countries are still allowed to export other types of trash, like paper, here.
09:24But for every three million tons of waste labeled as paper, about 450,000 tons are actually plastic,
09:33according to Eccleton's reporting. In May 2025, months after the ban took effect, the U.S. illegally shipped
09:42about five million pounds of plastic in a single month. And these factories have become a way to get
09:49rid of it. This facility gets tofu pre-made and fries it up over stoves fueled by plastic, too.
09:59People are already aware, yeah, that this job have high risk.
10:09They need to make a living and they see this plastic fuel is very effective. So people think it's good for them,
10:19but actually they become a victim.
10:2150-year-old Suwadia has worked at this factory nearly every day for almost half of her life.
10:30She says plastic makes the flames burn stronger.
10:37She cooks five batches a day to earn her $3 wage.
10:41Snack wrappers are among the most dangerous kinds of plastic to burn because they contain dyes
11:00that can make fumes extra poisonous.
11:19Here in Troporo village, these factories aren't just unsafe for workers. They are also polluting the air,
11:26and they are also polluting the air.
11:27They are also polluting the air. They are also polluting the air.
11:29In 2019, researchers found that free-range chicken eggs from around here
11:36contained dioxin levels 70 times higher than the safe limit.
11:41That chemical is extremely poisonous. It can damage the liver even in tiny amounts,
11:46and can cause serious birth defects and cancer.
11:49The only place with more toxic eggs in Asia was Vietnam,
11:55where the U.S. dropped the now-banned chemical weapon Agent Orange during the war.
12:00But instead of cracking down,
12:02the Indonesian government appointed a panel of experts to dispute the findings.
12:08Meanwhile, those chemicals are also seeping into the water supply.
12:12And this is the wastewater from the process. It will just discharge without any filtration
12:23or any treatment to the nearby waterways.
12:35While the Indonesian government has outright banned plastic imports,
12:38activists say they haven't seen much change.
12:43Do you believe that those developed countries care about the world being here?
12:49No.
12:50They are so mean. They are so cruel. They are irresponsible.
13:02But some locals, for whom this tofu is a staple, refuse to believe the worst.
13:08Like Titin, who has been buying from factories like this one since she was a child.
13:17Titin mostly buys the wet kind.
13:22Historically, tofu has been especially popular among low-income groups.
13:37In fact, Indonesians eat more of it than they do beef or chicken.
13:44And for generations, it was good for you.
13:48Traditionally, factories cooked tofu over discarded rice husks, wood, and other biodegradables.
13:55They were free and generally safer to burn.
13:59But as plastic piled up, it slowly took over as the main fuel source.
14:05And what was once a nutritious meal, quietly became a toxic one.
14:09The danger isn't apparent right away.
14:23But over the years, dozens of reports have warned against this tofu.
14:28Including a documentary that went viral in early 2025.
14:32There is plastic fumigated tofu that is quietly feeding and poisoning entire cities.
14:41But surprisingly, factory owners and workers told us sales shot up the first month after the video was published.
14:48It's more expensive.
14:49It's more expensive.
14:51It's more expensive.
14:52Yes, we even buy all of them.
14:54It's more expensive to prove it.
14:56Today, food stands, markets, and restaurants all get their tofu from factories like Kufrons.
15:04Some recipes have become beloved local specialties, like the popular street food called Tahu Tek,
15:11which got its name from the sounds vendors make as they go around selling it on the streets.
15:18Even knowing how it's prepared doesn't stop locals like Sri Surya from enjoying this meal.
15:30The taste is quite special for me.
15:33We eat tofu from the very beginning of our life.
15:37It's actually easy to find and it's also affordable.
15:42And she believes the actions of the West are simply an oversight.
15:47It is possibly that they only do not know that how the trash is used in developing countries.
15:54That's why they're still continuing this.
15:57Once they know, I'm sure that they will end.
16:16It's high and.
16:29It's happy to expect it.
16:31Yes, you are.
16:32You are wow.
16:33Yeah.
16:34I think that you're doing well.
16:35Yeah.
16:35But, we be totally different that you thought it was good.
Be the first to comment