Canada has been shipping household trash to the Southeast Asian island nation since summer 2013 when port authorities first found 50 containers of unattended garbage dumped in Manila. The receiver listed on import documents for the shipments, Live Green Enterprise, failed to claim the cargo.
An additional 48 containers filled with household waste were discovered in the port in May. According to customs officials, they were imported over a year ago and wrongly declared to be recyclable scrap plastic, prompting anger from local ecologists and residents who suspect Canada of smuggling trash under the guise of recycling.
EcoWaste's coordinator for waste and pollution Aileen Lucero condemned Canada's refusal to take the waste back. She demanded that the Filipino government "compel Canada to re-import their rubbish" and "ensure that our country is not unjustly treated as a cheap dumpsite."
Ecologists stress that illegal Canadian imports violate the Basel Convention prohibiting the export of household trash to other countries without their official consent. Both Canada and Philippines are signatories to the convention.
