Indonesia to return 49 containers of waste to developed countries

Illustrative image (Photo: AFP/VNA)

The 49 containers were loaded with a combination of garbage, plastic waste and hazardous materials in violation of import rules, according to customs officials on Batam island.

The waste came from the US, Australia, France, Germany and Hong Kong (China), he added.

Last month, Jakarta returned five containers of waste to the US.

China's decision in 2018 to ban imports of foreign plastic waste threw global recycling into chaos, leaving developed nations struggling to find places to send their waste.

Huge quantities of rubbish have since been redirected to Southeast Asia, including Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines. 

In May, neighbouring Malaysia vowed to ship back hundreds of tonnes of plastic waste.

The Philippines also returned about 69 containers of rubbish back to Canada last month.

Around 300 million tonnes of plastics are produced every year, according to the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF), with much of it ending up in landfills or polluting the seas, in what has become a growing international crisis./.

VNA