THE LATEST attempt to dump into the Philippines mixed plastic waste, this time from Hong Kong, China, reinforces the call for the government to formalize as soon as possible President Duterte’s marching orders issued on May 6 banning waste shipments from other countries.
We are appalled by this attempt to bring mixed plastic scraps, shredded electronics and other residual waste materials in violation of our customs and environmental laws. We should not allow our country to be treated by others as a disposal or dumping site for the world’s garbage.
The shipment that came from Hong Kong arrived at the Mindanao Container Terminal in Tagoloan, Misamis Oriental on Jan. 2, 2019 on board SITC Fujian. We should denounce this amid our nation’s ongoing efforts to send back similar illegal waste shipments from Canada and South Korea. This is supposed to be a “trial shipment” for some 70 containers. Thanks to the alertness and resolve of local customs intelligence and officials, our nation succeeded in stopping a potential avalanche of plastic waste and e-waste.
We are shocked that the shipment originated from Hong Kong, which we find truly ironic since China has taken the unprecedented move to protect its own environment by banning waste imports, including electronic and plastic scraps and remnants.
To protect the national interest against illegal waste trafficking, there must be a comprehensive and immediate ban on waste imports and for the country’s rapid ratification of the Basel Ban Amendment. This amendment to the Basel Convention seeks to prohibit the export of hazardous wastes and other wastes.
The Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal, usually known as the Basel Convention, is an international treaty that was designed to reduce the movements of hazardous waste between nations, and specifically to prevent transfer of hazardous waste from developed to less developed countries.
