Muli is one of the 9 inhabited islands in Meemu atoll in the central Maldives. Like almost all island of Maldives, the Muli island is also vulnerable to environmental and economic development variables such as waste management, rising sea level, coastal erosion, pollution/depletion of groundwater. Traditionally, food waste is generally disposed to the shoreline while other organic waste was burnt in open fire and were seen as manageable in the context of a small community.

During the UN Ocean Conference in New York (5-9 June) the German Government made the following commitment related to marine litter: 'Implementation of Ten-point Plan of Action for Marine Conservation and Sustainable Fisheries of the German Development Co-operation in which one field of action is the reduction of land-based marine littering.'

Some local governments in China still have a mindset of valuing development and scorning environmental protection, and some enterprises make no scruple of taking a risk in pursuing illegal interests, the problem of the illegal entry of foreign garbage into the country is not eliminated despite being repeatedly prohibited, which is severely detrimental to the health of the people and China's eco-environmental security.