By EFE-EPA
The United Kingdom said Monday it would take back more than 40 containers of illegally imported waste from Malaysia, according to the high commissioner to the country.
Indonesian scavenger, Suparno, 60, stands in front of burning plastic waste at an imported plastic dumpsite in Mojokerto, East Java, Indonesia, Dec. 4, 2018. (EPA-EFE FILE/FULLY HANDOKO / MANILA BULLETIN)
In a joint statement with the Malaysian environment and climate change ministry, commissioner Charles Hay said the UK would take back 42 containers of plastic imported into Penang port between March 2018 and March 2019, which lacked the necessary paperwork.
“We look forward to working with Malaysia on the broader agenda of conserving the environment and addressing climate change,” he said in the statement.
Yeo Bee Yin, the environment and climate change minister, said she hoped the move would set a precedent for other countries to do the same.
“We hope the co-operation and understanding between Malaysia and will set an example for other countries with companies exporting contaminated plastic waste to other developing nations,” she said.
According to an amendment of the Basel Convention, ratified by 186 countries and the European Union – of which the United States is a notable absence – the export of toxic waste from developed countries to lesser developed nations is prohibited.
The Basel Convention entered into force in 1992 and was a result of the practice of exporting hazardous waste from developed countries to underdeveloped ones for disposal, which has been dubbed "Toxic Colonialism."