Malaysian Minister of Energy, Technology, Science, Environment and Climate Change Yeo Been (R) Yin at Port Klang on May 28, 2019. (Photo: Bernama) Kuala Lumpur (VNA) – Malaysia will send 3,000 tonnesof plastic waste back to the countries it originated from, said Minister ofEnergy, Science, Technology, Environment, and Climate Change Yeo Bee Yin.
Fielding questions from reporters after inspecting theshipments at Port Klang on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur on May 28, Yeo notedthat the country will send back 60 containers of trash that had been importedillegally. Ten of them are expected to be shipped within the next two weeks,with costs covered by the importers involved.
Malaysian officials have identified at least 14 original countriesof the unwanted waste, including the US, Japan, France, Canada, Australia, and theUK. Malaysia had already returned five containers of contaminated plastic wasteback to Spain.
A British-based recycling company had exported 50,000 tonnesof plastic waste to Malaysia in the past two years, said Yeo withoutidentifying the firm. She added that Malaysia would ask foreign governments responsibleto investigate such companies.
The minister said the blame should be shared between theexporters and their partners in Malaysia. She did not disclose how many localcompanies were involved as it was still under investigation. However, she saidall violators would be brought to justice.
Malaysia and many other developing countries became top destinationsfor global plastic waste dumping after China banned its imports last year.
This month, about 180 countries agreed to amend the BaselConvention 1989 to make global trade in plastic waste more transparent andbetter regulated.–VNA
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