More Canadian Garbage Shipped to Philippines, Groups Allege

More Canadian Garbage Shipped to Philippines, Groups Allege
Members of Basel Action Network, IPEN, and other groups protest outside a conference related to the Basel Convention in Geneva, Switzerland, on May 10, 2015 over household waste shipped to the Philippines from Canada. The groups want Canada to take back the containers, which they say violates the Basel Convention. John Wickens/IPEN
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Environmental groups are alleging that a second lot of containers full of Canadian waste have been shipped to the Philippines and left abandoned at the Port of Manila. The allegations were prompted by a leaked document from the Philippines Bureau of Customs.

According to Philippines news reports citing an anonymous customs official, 48 containers full of household waste arrived between December 2013 and January 2014.

“There has been no inspection yet. The shipment is for abandonment since it has been there for a long time,” the official told the Manila Bulletin.

A June 3 email from the Department of Foreign Affairs says Canada “has not received any confirmation from the Government of the Philippines about the supposed shipment.”

The containers are similar to 50 shipped to Manila in the spring and summer of 2013 by Ontario-based company Chronic Inc. that were declared as containing plastics for recycling. After the giant containers had sat at the port for months, officials opened them only to find a mixture of plastics and stinking household garbage, including used adult diapers.

At the time, a customs official said the contents “could pose biohazard risks for our people.”

Shipping containers stacked five high sit at the congested Manila International Container Terminal on Aug. 20, 2014. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)
Shipping containers stacked five high sit at the congested Manila International Container Terminal on Aug. 20, 2014. AP Photo/Bullit Marquez