Indonesia continues sending back plastic waste to Australia

Indonesia has announced it will send 100 containers of contaminated plastic waste back to Australia to make it clear the country does not wish to become a "dumping ground".
Indonesia continues sending back plastic waste to Australia ảnh 1An Indonesian customs official inspects containers of waste sent from Australia (Photo: AFP/VNA)
Sydney (VNA) - Indonesia has announced it will send 100 containers ofcontaminated plastic waste back to Australia to make it clear the country doesnot wish to become a "dumping ground".

The 100Australian containers are part of a total of 547 containers that Indonesia hasinspected and found to be polluted by so-called B3 waste.

IndoneisanDirector-General of Customs Heru Pambugi said three companies "had beenfound to have imported plastic waste mixed with rubbish and B3 waste".

One of thecompanies did not have the required documents, he said.

Those companieswere responsible for importing all 100 of the Australian containers beingreturned.

Customs, Herusaid, was acting on the instructions of President Joko Widodo and the decisionto return the containers showed the consistency of the government of Indonesiaon the importation of plastic waste.

Earlier,Indonesia had planned to return a number of containers containing plastic wasteto different countries, including the US, Spain, the UK, Germany, France, Greece,the Netherlands, Slovenia, New Zealand and China.

For Australia,in July this year, local media reported that Indonesia also sent back eightcontainers of trash seized in Surabaya and one in Batam. One month later, theAustralian Government announced that the country will not export plastic waste,paper and crystal to other countries where they could be released to theocean./.
VNA

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