Malaysia sends back trash, says won't be world's waste bin

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

PENANG, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysia has sent back 150 containers of plastic waste to 13 mainly rich countries since the third quarter last year, with the environment the import of plastic waste in 2018, but Malaysia and other developing countries are fighting back.

Environment Minister Yeo Bee Yin said another 110 containers are expected to be sent back by the middle of this year.

Yeo said the successful repatriation of a total 3,737 metric tonnes (4,120 U.S. tons) of waste followed strict enforcement at key Malaysian ports to block smuggling of waste and shuttering more than 200 illegal plastic recycling factories.

Of the 150 containers, 43 were returned to France, 42 to the United Kingdom, 17 to the United States, 11 to Canada, 10 to Spain and the rest to Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, Portugal, China, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Lithuania, her ministry said.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/malaysia-sends-back-trash-says-wont-be-worlds-waste-bin/ar-BBZ7ZR5?li=BBnbfcL

[SWBTATTReg]

1. I thought China too, refused shipments of this type too. I don't blame them. We should be...

dealing w/ our own trash, properly disposing of it, recycling it, etc., not shipping it overseas. I'm surprised that the shipping company simply didn't just dump the trash overboard though (a good thing), but if this cycle/process continues where more and more countries refuse to accept this trash shipments, what will happen eventually to the trash itself? Sounds like a United Nations issue that needs to be dealt w/, pretty quickly, otherwise the oceans, already straining the edge of survival, will suffer even more indignities with this trash.

[FirstLight]

3. seriously!

...and the carbon footprint of shipping this trash? ugh... it's like insult to injury for the planet

Humans have managed to muck up our own habitat, and we keep trying to push it "under the rug" and hide from it but it's just too big to run from

[SWBTATTReg]

4. Indeed. The additional carbon footprint is a good point too. Perhaps this will force more ...

better solutions on disposal / handling of this trash, instead of shipping it elsewhere or burying it in large dumps (we have one in STLMO, it's massive). There are better solutions, perhaps more expensive, but in the long run, better for all of us all (humans, other species).

[FirstLight]

5. I have often heard the suggestion to shoot it into space

...but that seems like a bad idea, especially if it ends up in low orbit and we're surrounded by our own junk...or if it falls back to earth and fucks up a city...

OR...lol...if our trash ends up on another planet or moon and the aliens that live there get pissed and seek us out to have a serious talk about garbage...

[SWBTATTReg]

6. Ha ha...an interesting suggestion (tongue in cheek), there was talk on a youtube channel...

that I watched yesterday/last night, about space being littered already w/ too many satellites (Elon Musk's satellite array called Starlink, will put up almost 12,000 satellites into space, really cramping everyone's style). I guess the person or persons who develop the perfect solution for disposing of this trash in a cost effective and ecological safe manner will be the next $billionaire, eh? They would actually deserve it, really.

[FirstLight]

8. I have seen a few videos and articles showing the same

we are just creatures of pollution, aren't we? ugh, humans...

I don't want to wait for some billionaire to come along and make it his pet project... but if that's what happens let's hope sooner rather than later!

[Newest Reality]

2. Sacrilege!

Capitalism requires the World to be an infinite resource and an infinite garbage dump simultaneously and with out end since the holy grail is unlimited growth forever, or until everything runs out and the waste covers the planet, whichever comes first.

I don't understand why Malaysia hates capitalism. Don't they get it?

[Aussie105]

7. Since when does recycling mean ship it off shore?

Cleanaway, a company that picks up our recyclables,, has obtained approval to dump 100,000 tonnes of collected waste as general waste. Seems they don't want to sort it, and no one wants to buy it.

I was shocked to learn that "recycling" really meant "sort it, container it, ship it offshore", and t h at there must be a profit margin at each step.