Malaysia discovers 110 containers with toxic waste shipped illegally from Romania

Malaysia on Sunday discovered 110 containers filled with toxic waste. Reportedly, the waste came from Romania and was on its way to Indonesia.

1,864 tonnes of toxic waste

Found at the Port of Tanjung Pelepas where it was dumped last month, the containers housed 1,864 tonnes of electric arc furnace dust (EAFD), which is a deadly remnant of steel production, and contains toxic elements such as lead and chromium.

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Allegedly brought from Romania, the containers were falsely declared as concentrated zinc.

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The Environment and Water Minister Tuan Ibrahim Tuan man called it “the biggest finding of its kind”, and suggested that the shipment was on its way to Indonesia.

Also, Malaysia is in the process of returning the shipment, while asking Interpol to investigate.

Ever since China banned import of plastic waste in 2018, other countries have become the dumping ground for Western countries. These include Cambodia, Malaysia, and the Philippines.

Basel Convention

In a bid to contain dumping of waste, 187 countries last year added plastic to the Basel Convention, a treaty which regulates the movement of hazardous materials from one country to another.

Under this convention, the shipment in Malaysia qualifies as toxic waste. Malaysia is a signatory of the convention.

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Malaysia and the Philippines have now begun publicly naming countries that ship their trash to developing nations. In May 2019, Malaysia returned 450 tonnes of plastic waste to where it came from, including countries like the US, the UK, Canada, Japan, and the Netherlands.

"We urge the developed countries to review their management of plastic waste and stop shipping garbage to developing countries," said Yeo Bee Yin, Malaysia's then-minister of energy, science, technology, environment and climate change.

Just this year, Malaysian authorities identified and halted 28 such shipments. And with the onset of global usage of single-use masks given the coronavirus pandemic, the usage of plastic is expected to increase, creating havoc for the countries.