Sri Lanka shipped 45 containers filled with thousands of tonnes of illegally imported garbage to Britain on Monday, authorities said, as more and more Asian countries now join up to refuse unwanted garbage often dumped by developed countries.  The garbage-filled container returned on Monday had arrived in Sri Lanka between 2017 and 2019. 

At the time of import, most of them were listed as "used mattresses, carpets, and rugs". Upon inspection, authorities had found that it contained biowaste from hospitals including body parts from mortuaries. 

On Monday, Colombo sent the last 45 of the total 263 containers holding around 3,000 tonnes of waste to the UK. 

"There could be fresh attempts to import such hazardous cargo, but we will be vigilant and ensure that this does not happen again," Vijitha Ravipriya, customs chief, was quoted as saying by AFP news agency.

Earlier in September 2020, Sri Lanka returned 21 containers filled with medical waste to Britain. 

An environmental group in Sri Lanka had filed a petition in a local court, demanding the waste be returned to its original senders. The court in 2020 issued an order, asking authorities to re-send their wastage to their original senders. 

Sri Lankan customs asserted that all the containers brought into the country were in violation of international law governing the shipment of hazardous waste, including plastics. The Philippines, Indonesia, and Malaysia have also returned hundreds of containers of refuse back to their countries of origin.

(SAM)