Sri Lanka has shipped the last few hundreds of containers to the United Kingdom, filled with tons of illegally imported hazardous waste from the United Kingdom.
Case so far
Waste from the United Kingdom started piling up in Sri Lanka between 2017 and 2019. It contains clinical waste and other hazardous and uncategorized waste. After which officials carried out an inspection and then some officials complained about the foul smell.
Furthermore, Sri Lanka’s Centre for Environmental Justice (CEJ) filed a writ application against the illegal activities.
The application raises concerns regarding severe environmental degradation and major threats to the health of the citizens of the nation. The application has flagged that the waste was imported without adhering to the conditions of the BASEL convention, as per which the Sri Lankan authorities have restricted the import of hazardous waste.
Trade for recycling
The region became attractive for waste exporters when China, back in 2017, announced restrictions on importing certain types of solid waste. This was in addition to material contaminated with items that cannot be processed.
All the plastic or rubbish or trash does not end in the local landfill, but it’s loaded on large boats and travels all the way to southeast Asian nations. The region is an attractive market for scrap exporters.
However, there were instances, wherein countries such as Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia, and now Sri Lanka have refused to accept such shipments, despite claiming to recycle them. The end result was deterioration of the environment, hence “garbage was traded under the pretext of trade”.