Indonesia seizes 210 tons of Australian trash, plans to send it back

The eight containers seized at Tanjung Perak port in Indonesia’s second-largest city, Surabaya, contain plastic bottles, used baby diapers, and electronic products, East Java Province Customs said in a press release.

Chief of the port’s customs told Reuters three companies were involved in the shipment and were responsible to re-export after an investigation.

This is the second time in less than a month that Indonesia re-exported contaminated waste. Last month, Indonesia sent a consignment of Canadian paper waste back from the same port.

Indonesia and its neighboring Southeast Asian countries Malaysia and the Philippines have been sending back trash amid a spike in imports from Western countries after China banned imports, disrupting the global flow of millions of tons of waste each year.

(Source: Reuters)