Take back hazardous waste, Canada urged

A PROTESTER dressed as Santa Claus urges Canada to ship back to its shores the 50 container vans filled with hazardous waste that remain in the ports of Manila and Subic. NIÑO JESUS ORBETA

Environmental groups have only one wish this Christmas: to have a toxic-free holiday celebration starting with the return to Canada of 50 container vans filled with waste materials, some of these hazardous to health.

In a protest held in front of the Canadian Embassy in Makati City Monday, members of EcoWaste Coalition, Ban Toxics and Greenpeace Philippines called on the Canadian government to take back the tons of garbage it shipped to the country earlier this year.

The 50 container vans filled with various waste materials, including household waste and hazardous trash like adult diapers, were intercepted by the Bureau of Customs in February after these started to emit a foul odor at the Manila International Container Terminal.

The cargo’s contents were earlier declared as “scrap plastic materials for recycling.” Ontario-based Chronic Inc. shipped the cargo to Manila through its Valenzuela-based consignee Chronic Plastics.

In Canadian news reports, Chronic Inc. insisted that the containers were carrying mixed plastics for sorting in the Philippines.

“Taking it back and not letting the Filipino people suffer is the best thing to do—not just because of the season but because it is the moral thing to do,” Greenpeace toxics campaigner Abigail Aguilar said.

On the other hand, EcoWaste national coordinator Aileen Lucero said that this should be the Canadian Embassy’s gift to the Filipinos this Christmas.

According to her, they were still waiting for concrete action on the part of the embassy which has pinned the blame on Chronic Inc. as it claimed that “it does not have any legal capacity to compel the exporter to recall the shipment.”

Waste legal expert Richard Gutierrez of Ban Toxics said that the shipment was “illegal” and in violation of the Basel Convention, an international treaty that controls the movement of hazardous waste between countries. Both the Philippines and Canada are signatories of the agreement.

“Canada’s refusal to take back the illegal shipment is a blatant violation of their obligation under [the Basel Convention],” Gutierrez added.

He explained that the Basel Convention also requires the exporting country to take back and pay for the return of the shipment.

An online petition at Change.org urging Canada to recall the container vans was started by nonprofit organization Ang Nars political affairs officer Anna Marie Kapunan in March. The petition has so far been signed by over 25,000 people. Maricar B. Brizuela