People walk through plastic waste piled outside an illegal recycling factory in Jenjarom in Kuala Langat district, Malaysia. (Photo: Reuters)Hanoi (VNA) – Malaysia is making plans to ship Canadiantrash back after denouncing Canada’s “irresponsible” export of plastic waste.
With the act, it is the second Asian nation after the Philippines to do so.
On May 27, Malaysian officials opened a shipping container filledwith plastic bags from major Canadian chains, as well as product packagingstamped with "Made in Canada" labels from recognizable brands.
Authorities did not identify which company exported the plasticfrom Canada. But they said it will be returned to that exporter after itwas deemed to be too contaminated and of insufficient value for legitimaterecyclers in Malaysia to take it in.
Malaysian Environment Minister Yeo Bee Yin said he hopesCanadians will be angry when they know the case as it’s “household garbage”.
He said Malaysia and many developing countries have become newtargets after China banned the import of plastic waste for recycling in 2017.
On May 26, thePhilippines banned all government trips to Canada, highlighting the SoutheastAsian country’s diminished interaction with Canada in the face of a garbageissue.
In 2013 and 2014, aCanadian company sent to the Philippines 103 containers labeled as plastics forrecycling. However, an inspection of the Philippines Bureau of Customs foundthat the containers were filled with different types of waste, includinghousehold trash, diapers, newspapers and plastic bottles.
Earlier this month,Manila asked Ottawa to take back the garbage before May 15, but the Canadiangovernment missed the deadline, making the Philippines take tough diplomaticactions.-VNA
