Ship carrying waste arrives back in Canada from the Philippines

By Tyler Choi
TORONTO, June 29 (Reuters) - A ship carrying 69 containers
of waste mislabeled as plastic recyclables returned to Canada on
Saturday from the Philippines, closing a chapter on a dispute
that started in 2013 and sparked a diplomatic furor between
Ottawa and Manila.
The shipment was taken off the container ship Anna Maersk
docked close to Tsawwassen Ferry Terminal and arrived at GCT
Deltaport in Delta, British Columbia, part of Greater Vancouver,
GCT said in a statement.
Sarah Lusk, Metro Vancouver spokeswoman, said the waste
would be sent to a Waste-to-Energy facility in Burnaby where it
will be incinerated, but added that there was "uncertainty with
respect to timing" and the facility may not receive the waste
over the weekend.
The waste containers became part of a diplomatic dispute
between Manila and Ottawa, as the Philippine President Rodrigo
Duterte threatened Canada with war and withdrew top diplomats
from Canada after Canada missed a May 15 deadline to take back
the waste. The waste was shipped to the Philippines in 2013 and 2014
and mislabeled as recyclable plastics. Instead, it was filled
with garbage including used diapers and newspapers. A Philippine
court ruled in 2016 that it be returned. Canada made arrangements in late May to accept the
containers and said they hired Bollore Logistics Canada to
safely bring them back as soon as possible. Waste disposal has emerged as a topic of political dispute
between Southeast Asian countries and the developed world, with
Malaysia in May becoming the latest to demand nations such as
the United States, Japan, France, Canada, Australia and Britain
take back 3,000 tonnes of plastic waste. The government department Environment and Climate Change
Canada told Reuters earlier this month that the government was
in talks with Malaysia to recover the plastic waste that
originated from Canada.