Cambodia has announced it will send 1,600 tonnes of plastic waste back to the U.S and Canada, becoming the latest Southeast Asian country to join the backlash against taking in the developed world’s trash.
The country’s environment minister said 83 shipping containers of garbage were found yesterday at Cambodia’s main port in Sihanoukville. Seventy of the containers came from the U.S. and 13 were shipped from Canada.
A spokesman for the country’s environment minister, Neth Pheaktra, said “Cambodia is not a dustbin where foreign countries can dispose of out-of-date e-waste.
The spokesman said government plans to investigate how and why the containers were sent to the country, and fines might be imposed on companies responsible for shipping the waste.
