Health crisis pushes back trash shipment to Korea

GARBAGE BAGS A payloader puts a mound of imported trash from South Korea in a bagging machine at an industrial estate in Misamis Oriental in preparation for its reshipment. FROILAN GALLARDO

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY—The shipment of the last batch of imported waste back to South Korea may further be delayed as the East Asian country struggles to contain the spread of the new coronavirus (COVID-2019) within its shores, a Bureau of Customs (BOC) official said.

John Simon, BOC district collector here, said the outbreak and deaths related to COVID-19, which started in Wuhan City in China, and which had spread to South Korea and other parts of the world, might have caused the delay in the shipment of the remaining 2,000 metric tons of trash still kept at the Phividec industrial estate in Tagoloan town, Misamis Oriental province.

Simon said containers from China, where bags of imported waste were supposed to be loaded for shipment, did not arrive as expected since operations in Chinese ports had temporarily been suspended in the past weeks as the world focused on efforts to stop the spread of the disease.

“The coronavirus has disrupted the international trade supply chain in China,” Simon said. “Even the ports of entry there have set up quarantine for the ships, so there was a delay. The containers were also delayed in arriving in the country,” he said.

He said the containers from China were supposed to arrive at the Tagoloan port in time for the Feb. 23 scheduled shipment of the last batch of waste back to South Korea.

Misdeclared

The last 2,000 MT of plastic waste remained at Phividec in Barangay Sta. Cruz, Tagoloan, as most of the 6,500-MT trash were already shipped back to South Korea in 2019 and early this year.

Verde Soko Philippines Industrial Corp. had imported the waste supposedly for use as materials for its recycling plant in Barangay Sta. Cruz in 2018. But the BOC stopped the shipment, which had been misdeclared as “plastic synthetic flakes” by the company. Verde Soko also failed to secure an import permit from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

In Iloilo province, the Iloilo City government said it would expand restrictions to sea vessels docking in local ports to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas issued an executive order banning the entry of ships and other sea vessels from China and its special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau.

The order, which took effect on March 3, was in line with the travel restrictions covering flights coming from and going to China and its special administrative regions.

“There is a need to address the threat of the COVID-19 risk and its potential risk and danger to the health and life of [residents] of Iloilo City,” he said. —WITH REPORTS FROM NESTOR BURGOS JR. AND ADOR VINCENT MAYOL