Kuala Lampur: Malaysia will send back some 3,000 metric tonnes (3,300 tonnes) of non-recyclable plastic waste to countries such as the US, UK, Canada and Australia in a move to avoid becoming a dumping ground for rich nations, Environment Minister Yeo Bee Yin said on Tuesday. Yeo said Malaysia and many developing countries have become new targets after China banned the import of plastic waste last year.

The Philippines said it would ship back dozens of containers of garbage which were illegally shipped to the country from Canada in 2013 to 2014. Yeo said 60 containers stacked with contaminated waste were smuggled in en route to illegal processing facilities in Malaysia and will be sent back to their countries of origin. Ten of the containers are due to be shipped back within two weeks, she said, as she showed reporters contents of the waste at a port outside Kuala Lumpur.