MANILA -- Canada has committed to cooperate with the Philippine government in resolving the shipment of tons of garbage, which was dumped in the country four years ago.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, in a press briefing Tuesday, said legal restrictions, which have prevented the return of the trash to Canada, have already been addressed.
“Canada is very open to work with the Philippine government to resolve the garbage problem. We have legal barriers that prevented us from receiving the wastes back to Canada. These impediments have now been addressed. So it is theoretically possible to bring them back,” Trudeau said at the International Media Center (IMC) for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit at World Trade Center.
The Canadian premier said the Philippine and Canadian governments need to settle issues including who will pay for the shipment of the illegal trash to the country.
A total of 103 container vans from Canada arrived in batches at the Port of Manila from 2013 to 2014.
Initially declared to contain only plastic scraps, it was found to have nonrecyclable plastics, household wastes and used adult diapers.
Trudeau said a “Canadian solution” is being developed to settle the issue on the illegal garbage shipment during the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit held in Manila last 2015.
Environmentalist groups have urged President Rodrigo Duterte to hold Canada accountable for the dumping of the hazardous waste.
They also urged both Canada and the Philippines to ratify the Basel Ban Amendment which prohibits the movement of hazardous wastes from developed to developing countries even for recycling. (PNA)
