Malaysia to send tonnes of plastic waste back to countries of origin

Malaysia will send back almost 3,000 tonnes of non-recyclable plastic waste to countries including the United States, Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom in a move to avoid becoming a "dumping ground" for rich nations.

Malaysia last year became the world’s main destination for plastic waste after China banned its import, disrupting the flow of more than 7 million tonnes of the trash a year.

Dozens of recycling factories have cropped up in Malaysia, many without operating licenses, and communities have complained of environmental problems.

Environment Minister Yeo Bee Yin said on Tuesday that 60 containers stacked with contaminated waste were smuggled in en route to illegal processing facilities in Malaysia and will be sent back to their countries of origin.

Yeo said Malaysia, and many developing countries, have become new targets after China banned the import of plastic waste last year.

"This is probably just the tip of the iceberg [due] to the banning of plastic waste by China," Yeo told a news conference.

"Malaysia will not be a dumping ground to the world ... we will fight back. Even though we are a small country, we can't be bullied by developed countries."

Ten containers will be shipped back within two weeks, Yeo said, as she showed reporters contents of the waste at a port outside the capital, Kuala Lumpur.

The displayed items included cables from the UK, contaminated milk cartons from Australia and CDs from Bangladesh, as well as bales of electronic and household waste from the US, Canada, Japan, Saudi Arabia and China.

Yeo said the waste from China appeared to be rubbish from France and other countries that had been rerouted after Beijing's ban.

In one case alone, Yeo said, a British recycling company exported more than 50,000 metric tonnes of plastic waste in about 1,000 containers to Malaysia over the past two years.

Earlier this month, the government also sent back five containers of waste to Spain.

Yeo said China's plastic waste ban had "opened up the eyes of the world to see that we have a huge garbage and recycling problem".

She urged the developed countries to review their management of plastic waste and "stop shipping the garbage out to the developing countries", calling such practices "unfair and uncivilised".