Malaysia to send back plastic waste to foreign nations

PORT KLANG, Malaysia – Malaysia says it will send back some 3,000 metric tonnes (330 tons) of non-recyclable plastic waste to countries including the U.S., U.K., Canada and Australia in a move to avoid becoming a dumping ground for rich nations.

Environment Minister Yeo Bee Yin says 60 containers stacked with contaminated waste were smuggled in to illegal processing facilities in Malaysia. She said Tuesday that 10 containers will be shipped back within two weeks as she showed reporters contents of the waste at a port outside Kuala Lumpur.

The waste that was displayed included cables from the U.K., contaminated milk cartons from Australia and compact discs from Bangladesh. Also shown were electronic and household waste from the U.S., Canada, Japan, Saudi Arabia and China.