Much of Trash From Tourists
Much of this trash doesn’t even come from the residents of the Maldives themselves, but from visitors. Tourism has been a boon for the Maldives: It’s currently the richest country in South Asia, and almost a third of its GDP comes from the tourism sector, the largest sector of its economy. The majority of tourists come from Europe, and more than 149,000 people visited in February of this year alone. According to 2013 government statistics, each tourist creates 15.9 pounds (7.2 kilograms) of trash per day; residents of Malé, by contrast, create only 6.2 pounds (2.8 kilograms) daily.
