Feds working on new policies to stop illegal shipments of garbage

OTTAWA — The federal government expects to make some changes this year to keep Canada’s garbage from ending up on foreign shores without consent.

Environment Canada and the Canada Border Services Agency are working together to see what can be done to stop illegal shipments of garbage.

Canadian policy requires permits be issued before most waste can be shipped but Canadian waste routinely winds up in foreign ports despite no such permits having been issued in the last four years.

In recent months, Canada was forced to bring some shipping containers of rotting waste back from Malaysia with more still to come.

That was after Canada spent $1.14 million last June to bring nearly 100 containers of garbage back from the Philippines, where it had been rotting in ports for nearly six years.

Environment Canada has not yet said who paid for the garbage to come back from Malaysia, how much there was or where it ended up.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 13, 2020.

The Canadian Press