The Canadian Embassy on Thursday welcomed the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) statement, confirming that the content of 50 containers now pending at the Manila ports are neither toxic nor hazardous, but residual waste.
“The case is a private commercial matter involving a Canadian company and its Philippine partner. But the embassy engaged the government and its relevant agencies to actively seek to assist and resolve it in keeping with the spirit of collaboration and cooperation that characterizes our countries’ relations,” the embassy said in a statement.
The Canadian Embassy said there are no current domestic laws, which its government could apply to compel the shipper to return its container to Canada.
The embassy said it had worked with the shipper and with the Philippine government to find a solution to the waste shipment, “in accordance with our two countries’ respective regulations and legislative framework.”
“We are pleased that this matter has been resolved and would refer you to the DENR for an update,” the embassy added.
Despite Internet search, however, the BusinessMirror could not find any statement from the DENR referring to the controversial shipment, which arrived in the country six months ago.
The materials had been declared as recyclable plastic, but inspections conducted by Customs officials revealed that the shipment was tons of waste that included used plastic diapers, among other things.
Customs Commissioner John Sevilla said it is clear that the waste materials were shipped to the Philippines illegally, adding that the recipient Chronic Plastics Inc. had tried to mislead Philippine authorities on the nature of the shipment in order to bypass regulations involving such cargo.
The 50 containers of plastic waste had arrived at the port of Manila from Canada in several batches. Businessman Jim Makris said, “The story of this garbage thing is just driving me nuts.”
Makris is the owner of Chronic Inc., a business that sends mixed plastics across the Pacific to be sorted in the Philippines and sold for recycling.
“Anybody who’s in plastic, who knows plastic, will tell you it’s the stupidest thing I’ve heard of in my entire life,” Makris said, as quoted by the local news reports.
Because it was declared as plastic for recycling, the Bureau of Customs said Makris’s company broke the law by shipping “tons of garbage,” consisting of household trash and some adult diapers.
Makris, who began his recycling venture in the Philippines nearly a year ago, said the alleged trash-filled containers were part of his second shipment to the country.
He said the contents, which he bought from a recycling firm in Vancouver, were “95-percent plastic,” but also contained some paper and aluminum that one would find in a standard household recycling bin.
Makris believes there was a misunderstanding about his shipment.
A Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada spokesman said that the government hasn’t been advised of the situation, but will monitor developments through Canadian officials in the Philippines.
Under the Basel Convention, to which Canada and the Philippines are signatories, it is illegal to ship hazardous waste internationally, except in special circumstances.
Makris insisted that it wouldn’t be possible for such waste to get into his shipments, which are also inspected before they leave Canada.
He added that “anyone with a brain” could see that it makes no sense to ship garbage overseas. It costs $40 per ton to dump garbage in Canada, but $80 per ton to ship his recycling material to the Philippines, he said.