The Trash Ship That Became a Symbol of America’s Toxic Waste Problem

In the 1980s, Philadelphia was in the midst of a trash crisis. A sanitation workers’ strike had left the city with an immense backlog of garbage. The solution: Ship it overseas, on a rusting cargo vessel called the Khian Sea. But when one country after another refused to take Philly’s waste, it turned the Khian Sea’s trash voyage into a trash odyssey, and shed light on a growing problem that critics came to call “garbage imperialism.” Featured in this episode: Kenny Bruno Sources: Simone M. Müller’s book The Toxic Ship Alexander Clapp’s book Waste Wars Planet Money’s reporting on the Mobro 4000: https://www.npr.org/transcripts/739893511 See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.©2025 Wondery (P)2025 Wondery