In a working-class neighborhood of Myanmar's Yangon, plastic waste is piled a meter high, the toxic product of what a recent investigation concluded is rampant dumping of Western trash, much of it from goods made by European manufacturers.

Several European countries, such as Germany, the UK, and Italy, rank among the world's largest producers of plastic waste, according to data gathering experts Statista. 

For several years sites across Shwepyithar township have been filling up with rubbish that chokes fields, blocks the drainage of monsoon rains and causes fire risks. The garbage is the result of global plastic production, which has more than doubled since the start of the century to reach 460 million tons per year.

"In the past, during the rainy season I could pick watercress from this field to eat," one resident said, asking not to be identified for security reasons. "Because of the plastic waste, now we can't get any watercress to eat. Instead, we get a smell."

An investigation released this week by collaborative newsroom Lighthouse Reports and six partners has found some of the waste dumped here comes from the West.

The mix includes wrapping and containers for products made by European companies. These include yogurt made by French multinational food giant Danone yogurt, Polish company Spomlek's cheese, and items from German-owned UK supermarket Lidl.

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None of these originated in Myanmar, but they have ended up there despite a law prohibiting the import of plastic waste unless it is clean and ready to recycle. The ban was imposed after China stopped taking foreign plastic waste in 2018. Several local recycling factories admitted to Lighthouse Reports that waste they can't process is often dumped or burned.

‌Just how the waste enters Myanmar, and in what quantities, is unclear. The investigation suggests Thailand is a key passage for illegally exported plastics.

According to United Nations Comtrade data, most of Myanmar's plastic waste imports come from Thailand. Almost 7,500 tons entered in 2021, the last year it reported figures.

But the roughly 2,400-kilometer (1,490-mile) border the countries share is extremely porous and crossed with ease by traffickers and smugglers. Officials on both sides of the border do little to inspect arriving waste, Lighthouse Reports said.

Several companies whose products were found in Myanmar were contacted to ask how they might have arrived, but none replied.

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