Cambodian officials announced Wednesday that they were sending 1,600 tons of trash back to their source — the United States and Canada. A total of 83 shipping containers of plastic waste were found on Tuesday at the major southwestern port of Sihanoukville, said Neth Pheaktra, Secretary of State and Spokesman to the Ministry of Environment.
The containers, opened by customs and excise officials, were labeled as “recyclable products” with no labels of plastic waste, said Pheaktra. The customs ministry is now conducting an investigation into how the containers ended up in Cambodia, and which companies or groups are behind the import. If discovered, they would be fined and brought to court, Pheaktra said. Meanwhile, the federal government will begin the process of sending back the trash to the US and Canada.
“Cambodia is not a dustbin where foreign countries can dispose of out-of-date e-waste, and the government also opposes any import of plastic waste and lubricants to be recycled in this country,” said Pheaktra.
This is just the latest incident in a global trash crisis, in which electronic waste, plastics, and other trash from mostly Western countries get shipped to Southeast Asia. Last year, China banned plastic waste imports as part of an initiative to clean up its environment. That move caused a ripple effect through global supply chains, as middlemen sought new destinations for their trash — such as Malaysia or the Philippines.
This pivoting of trash imports has created an illicit industry of unlicensed plastic recyclers. In Malaysia earlier this year, a government crackdown found at least 148 unlicensed recycling factories that pollute local communities with toxic fumes and contaminate bodies of water.