Last week, Vietnam’s prime minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said that his government would not be issuing new licenses for waste imports. In Malaysia, minister of housing and local government Zuraida Kamaruddin announced last week that the government had revoked plastics waste import licenses from 114 factories.
German exporters of waste plastics reported at the end of July that no shipments could be sent to Malaysia at all. By contrast, the state news agency Bernama reported that production facilities with valid “approved permits” (APs) could continue to import material under HS Code 3915 (plastic waste). The factories which had had permits revoked should reapply within the next three months, with new criteria to be observed to ensure “no power abuse and breach of standards and regulations”, Zuraida Kamaruddin said according to the news agency.
To be allowed to resume imports, factory operators would need to obtain compliance letters from the Department of Environment, premise licences from local authorities, a recommendation from the waste authority SWCorp (Solid Waste Management and Public Cleansing Corporation) and proof that their import of plastic waste is clean and not “scheduled waste”, Zuraida Kamaruddin said. The ministry’s National Solid Waste Management Department was to form a task force to review the procedures and policy on the importation of Code 3915 plastic waste, Bernama reported.
Read the full story at https://www.euwid-recycling.com/news/policy/single/Artikel/vietnam-and-malaysia-restrict-waste-imports.html.