Sri Lanka Returns Last of 263 Containers With 3,000 Tonnes of Garbage to Britain

Sri Lanka has frequently engaged in the importing of hazardous waste from UK for several years now.

Sri Lanka returned the last batch of hazardous waste imported from Britain in the name of 'used carpets, mattresses' (Image used for representation).

(Photo: The Quint)

Sri Lanka, on Monday, 21 February, shipped out the last of a large number of containers comprising thousands of tonnes of illegally imported waste back to Britain, according to AFP.

Forty-five containers were loaded onto a ship at a port in Colombo on Monday, which were the last batch of 263 containers containing about 3,000 tonnes of waste.

Sri Lanka has frequently returned waste in batches to the United Kingdom for several years now. And the former is not alone. Other Asian countries too have felt enraged and provoked by the dumping of garbage by the Western nations disguised as materials that can supposedly be used for recycling.

The Past Behind Dumping of Waste by the West

Waste arrived in Sri Lanka from Britain between the years 2017 and 2019, and was labelled by the latter as "used mattresses, carpets and rugs." However, it also included hazardous waste like biowaste from hospitals, like body parts, while some containers released a powerful stench, officials said.

"There could be fresh attempts to import such hazardous cargo, but we will be vigilant and ensure that this does not happen again."

Customs Chief Vijitha Ravipriya

According to customs, the first batch of 21 containers comprising biowaste or medical waste were returned to Britain in September 2020.

Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines have also sent back hundreds of containers of waste to their countries of origin.

(With inputs from AFP and The Indian Express.)