Malaysian minister Yeo Bee Yin blasts importers of illegal waste, vows to return 450 tonnes of rubbish to likes of US, Japan
- Environment minister Yeo Bee Yin says the Southeast Asian country ‘won’t continue to be a dumping ground for developed nations’
- The 10 shipping containers of refuse to be sent back also contain plastic packaging and e-waste from Australia and Canada, among others
“Malaysia won’t continue to be a dumping ground for the developed nations and those responsible for destroying our ecosystem with these illegal activities are traitors,” Yeo on Tuesday told reporters. “We will fight back. Even though we are a small country, we will not be bullied.”
Australia, Canada, Saudi Arabia, and Bangladesh are the other countries to which the 450 metric tonnes of refuse – which included milk cartons, plastic packaging, household waste and e-waste such as compact discs – will be returned.
We will fight back. Even though we are a small country, we will not be bullied
A container from China, Yeo said, had originated in France, but was diverted to Malaysia after China banned imports of plastic waste last year.
Yeo said her Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change ministry would continue to clamp down on containers brought into the country under “false declarations”.
“Garbage is traded under the pretext of recycling,” she said. “Malaysians are forced to suffer poor air quality due to open burning of plastics which leads to health hazards, polluted rivers, illegal landfills, and a host of other related problems.”