PENANG, Malaysia — Malaysia has returned 150 containers of plastic waste to 13 mainly wealthy countries since the third quarter of last year, with the environment minister warning on Monday that those who want to turn the country into a garbage can of the world “can dream of .”
Shipments of unwanted waste have been diverted to Southeast Asia since China banned plastic waste imports in 2018, but Malaysia and other developing countries are fighting back.
Environment Minister Yeo Bee Yin said another 110 containers will be returned by the middle of this year.
Yeo said the successful repatriation of a total of 3,737 metric tons (4,120 US metric tons) of waste followed strict enforcement in key Malaysian ports to block waste smuggling and shut down more than 200 illegal plastic recycling plants.
Of the 150 containers, 43 were returned to France, 42 to the United Kingdom, 17 to the United States, 11 to Canada, 10 to Spain and the rest to Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, Portugal, China, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Lithuania, her ministry said.
She said the Malaysian government has not paid a cent, with the costs of returning the waste being borne entirely by the shipping companies and companies responsible for importing and exporting the waste.
Yeo said talks are underway with US authorities to take back another 60 containers this year. Canada also has 15 more containers, Japan 14, the UK 9 and Belgium 8 of a further 110 containers still detained in Malaysian ports, she said.
“If people want to see us as the garbage dump of the world, then dream on,” Yeo told reporters during an inspection at a port in the northern state of Penang.
Yeo said the government will launch an action plan against illegal plastic imports next month that will help various agencies coordinate maintain and accelerate the waste return process.
“Our position is very firm. We just want to send (the waste) back and we just want to send a message that Malaysia is not the landfill of the world,” she added.
The Associated Press