Sri Lanka sends 260 tonnes of illegally imported waste back to UK

Shipments violated international laws on hazardous waste

Customs officials inspect container at Colombo port in 2019 following similar incident of hazardous clinical waste entering the country (AFP/Getty Images)

Sri Lanka has sent back to Britain 21 containers holding up to 260 tonnes of waste brought to the island in violation of international laws that govern the shipping of hazardous material.

The containers were thought to be carrying used mattresses, carpets and rugs but custom officials have said additional hospital waste was also shipped.

The containers first arrived in the Sri Lankan capital Colombo’s main port between September 2017 and March 2018 and were sent back to British shores on Saturday.

“The shipper had agreed to take back these 21 containers,” said customs spokesman Sunil Jayaratne on Sunday.

He told AFP news agency: “We are working to secure compensation from those responsible for getting the containers into the country.”

Customs officials withheld information regarding the type of hospital waste but previous illegally imported containers have included rags, bandages, and even body parts.

A further 242 containers sent from Britain are said to be holding illegal waste that is in violation of international law.

They arrived between 2017 and 2018 and remain abandoned both at the same port and at a free trade zone outside Colombo.

The government of Sri Lanka is currently engaged in legal action over the shipment as it seeks to remove the containers from the country.

An investigation in the country last year found nearly 3,000 tonnes of illegally imported waste into the country had been reshipped by the importer with 180 tonnes sent to Dubai and India in 2017 and 2018.

Asian countries regularly assert their rights not to be treated as the wealthy world’s waste dump and often turn back containers of waste back to foreign shores.

Earlier this year, the Malaysian government announced the repatriation of 3,737 tonnes of plastic waste during the third quarter of 2019.

The country’s Environment Minister Yeo Bee Yin told reporters: “If people want to see us as the rubbish dump of the world, you dream on.”