Illustrative image (Source: CBN) Sydney (VNA) – The Philippines’ customs officials recently seized atleast seven garbage containers from Australian waste giant Cleanaway Resource Coat a southern port.
The shipment wasscheduled to be destined for incineration at a local cement kiln. It wasstopped and inspected by customs officials in the Mindanao container terminalafter an inspector noticed it was labelled as both processed engineering fueland municipal waste.
Talking to the mediaon May 23, a spokesperson for Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte criticizedthat the action to turn the Philippines into a dumping ground of trash isoffensive.
However, a spokesmanfor Cleanaway told that allegations the shipment was illegal were incorrect,and that its joint venture partner Resource Co had “relevant approvals fromPhilippine authorities to export this fuel to the Philippines for use in cementkilns operated by Lefarge Holcim, a global cement manufacturer”.
The importer, HolcimPhilippines, also said the shipment conformed to the Philippine EnvironmentManagement Bureau’s guidelines for the use of alternative or waste fuel incement kilns, and had been cleared on May 21 by the Manila EMB office.
But the MindanaoCustoms official who inspected the containers refused to clear them, sayingthey violate not only customs laws but potentially also the country’s Clean AirAct.
Recently, the CanadianGovernment signed a contract with shipping company Bollore Logistics Canada tobring containers of waste back to Canada from the Philippines.
The 69 consignments ofwaste were exported to Manila between 2013 and 2014, and labeled as containingplastics to be recycled in the Philippines, but were filled with domestic wasteand electronics.-VNA
VNA
