Cambodia will send back 83 containers of plastic waste to Canada and U.S., environment ministry says

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia—Almost seven dozen shipping containers sitting in a Cambodian seaport that were found to be filled with plastic waste came from the United States and Canada, the Southeast Asian country’s Environment Ministry said Wednesday.

Ministry spokesman Neth Pheaktra said the total weight of the waste found in 83 containers in Sihanoukville, the country’s main port, was approximately 1,450 tonnes.

“Cambodia is not a dustbin where foreign countries can dispose of out-of-date e-waste, and the government also opposes any import of plastic waste and lubricants to be recycled in this country,” he said.

If this plastic had been made biodegradable in a landfill in the first place then it would not need to be exported.  Rather it could be kept home and used to generate power from the biodegradation process.  A win win situation.  This is what Biogone technology allows to happen to plastics.