3,737 Tonnes of Plastic Waste Sent Back to 13 Rich Countries, Yeo Bee Yin Tells Them to “Dream On”

150 containers of plastic waste in Malaysia have been sent back to 13 mainly rich countries as of today, and another 110 containers are expected to be sent back by the middle of this year.

According to Malaysia Kini, Environment Minister Yeo Bee Yin said on Monday (20th January) that 3,737 metric tonnes of rubbish have been successfully shipped back after the strict enforcement to block smuggling of waste and shuttering more than 200 illegal plastic recycling factories.

“If there are people that would like to see this [country] as the rubbish dumpsite of the world, you can dream on,” Yeo said. 

Source: time

Shipments of unwanted rubbish have been rerouted to Southeast Asia since China banned the import of plastic waste in 2018, but Malaysia and other developing countries are fighting back.

According to Time, “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.”

Yeo also said that the Malaysian government did not pay for the shipment as “the costs were either borne by the  exporters or by the shipping liners.”

Source: reuters

“This is an unprecedented move by Malaysia,” she said. 

Currently, Yeo said that they are looking into getting another 110 containers held at Malaysian port back to their countries, of which 60 belong to US, 15 to Canada, 14 to Japan, nine to UK and eight to Belgium.

She also said that the government will launch an action plan on illegal plastic importation next month that will help the different agencies coordinate enforcement and speed up the process of returning the waste.

“Malaysian government is serious about combating the import of illegal wastes as we do not want to be the garbage bin of the world,” she said. 

Yes! Get those plastic waste out of this country! You go Yeo Bee Yin!

Also read: Canada Says It Won’t Be Accepting Plastic Waste Sent Back From Malaysia