JAKARTA — Indonesia said Tuesday it would send more than 210 tons of garbage back to Australia, as Southeast Asian nations push back against serving as dumping grounds for foreign trash. Australian company Oceanic Multitrading sent the waste to Indonesia with help from Indonesian firm PT. 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. Indonesia announced last week it was sending back 49 containers full of waste to France and other developed nations. In May, neighboring Malaysia announced it was shipping 450 tons of imported plastic waste back to its sources, including Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, China, Japan, Saudi Arabia and the United States.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer July 09, 2019 05:26 UTC