Philippines sends another 6,000 metric tons of waste back to South Korea

The Philippines returned some 6,000 metric tons of Korean waste back to Pyeongtaek City in South Korea, the Bureau of Customs (BOC) reported Wednesday.

In an emailed statement, the BOC said the last shipment of 80 containers, which illegally entered the Philippines, was sent back on Tuesday, August 4, 2020 onboard the MV MAHIA.

The re-exportation of 251 containers of Korean waste started in January, but was delayed due to the implementation of lockdown restrictions designed to curb the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

"The re-exportation of the wastes to South Korea is due to the failure of the consignee to secure prior import permit from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and for its misdeclaration of the waste shipments as 'plastic synthetic flakes'," the BOC said.

The shipments were consigned to Verde Soko Philippines Industrial Corp., which on two separate occasions brought into the Philippines one shipload containing 5,176 metric tons of various plastic, and another 51 forty-footer (51x40) containers which contained waste materials, both declared as plastic synthetic flakes.

The Philippines has already sent back some 2,676 metric tons of waste materials, part of the 5,176.91 metric tons illegally imported in the Philippines from South Korea in 2018.

The garbage was shipped back in 151 forty-footer containers -- the first batch of 51 containers shipped back on January 25, 2019, the second batch of 50 containers on January 15, 2020, and the third batch of 50 containers on March 21, 2020.—AOL, GMA News