Dive Brief:

• A petition urging Canadians to take back garbage it dumped in the Philippines has collected nearly 40,000 signatures and was recently readdressed to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau through the Canadian Embassy in Manila.
• Chronic Inc., the Whitby company accused of dumping the containers, said they were filled with plastic recyclables. But Philippine customs officials said the 50 container vans seized in Port Manila were filled with used adult diapers, broken bottles, and other garbage.
• The petition on Change.org — titled "Export the 98 (forty footer) container vans filled with mixed waste and trash from the Philippines to Canada" — states, "the garbage juice is now leaking and poses extreme health hazards and irreversible environmental problems in our country."

Dive Insight:

There have been other reports of developed countries illegally dumping waste overseas — primarily e-waste — including a case that led to sentencing of a former Highlands Ranch, CO electronics recycling executive. There have also been controversial allegations of similar actions against Chicago-based Intercon Solutions. 

While many recyclers in the U.S. and Europe state that these allegations are typically false, watchdog organizations like BAN claim that such activities happen, imposing environmental risks and financial burdens on the countries that become dumping grounds.

Lawmakers have filed a resolution in the House of Representatives to investigate the most recent reports from the Philippines.