Philippines returns huge amounts of waste ‘illegally shipped’ by Canada

The Philippines is returning huge amounts of waste which it says was illegally shipped by Canada.

Manila said it was mislabelled as recyclable plastics and criticised other western countries for dumping their rubbish there.

Countries in Southeast Asia who have long been the recipients of large consignments of Western rubbish are taking a stand and sending tons of the stuff back to where it came from.

Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte is returning 69 containers full of waste to Canada which he says were shipped illegally to the Philippines as long ago as 2013.

Last week, the issue led to Manila recalling its ambassador when Ottawa missed the May 15 deadline to collect the waste.

Recyclable plastics can be exported legally, but sometimes the waste is illegally mixed with low grade dirty plastics and other refuse.

When the lower grade plastics are incinerated for example, toxic fumes are released causing respiratory illnesses and water-contamination issues.

A few days ago Malaysia will send back some 3,000 tonnes of non-recyclable plastic waste to countries such as the US, UK, Canada and Australia in a move to avoid becoming a dumping ground for rich nations. 

Via Euronews