China sends smuggled waste back to Netherlands

BEIJING - Chinese authorities on Friday shipped 30 containers of smuggled solid waste back to the Netherlands, where the waste originated.

Disguised under fake documents, the 753-ton batch of waste was purchased by Hepu, a trading firm in East China's Anhui province, via a company in Taiwan, according to customs authorities in Nanjing, the capital of east China's Jiangsu province.

An investigation found that after buying the trash at low prices, the firm would pick out the "valuable" parts, including paper and plastics, to sell at high profit margins. It would then dump the remaining trash without regard to environmental concerns.

Chinese law on the control of solid waste bans imports of solid waste that cannot be used as raw materials or that poses a serious risk to the environment.

However, driven by high profit margins, some dealers smuggle or associate with overseas organizations and bring foreign garbage to China illegally.

If found guilty of illegal trading, importers or carriers should return the waste to its place of origin, according to the regulation.

In 2011, China's customs authorities uncovered 1,121 cases of illegal solid waste imports, including 10,400 tons of waste metal, 16,000 tons of waste plastics and 250,500 tons of other waste.