MANILA, Philippines — Green advocates Wednesday appealed to the government to investigate the importation of hazardous wastes, particularly from New Zealand, after it purportedly exported at least 50,000 tons of toxic wastes to the Philippines and South Korea since 2008.
Greenpeace-NewZealand claimed that official documents show that used lead acid batteries were allegedly sent to the Philippines for recycling.
However, it remains unclear how much is exported to the Philippines as this information has not yet been made available.
“We call on the Philippine government to investigate the importation of hazardous wastes from New Zealand and from other countries,” Greenpeace-Southeast Asia toxics campaigner Beau Baconguis said.
“We demand that details of these shipments be made publicly available. Republic Act (RA) 6969, the law that regulates trans-boundary movement of hazardous wastes, recognizes the public's right to information. It is government's obligation to disclose such information if we are to prevent more pollution from happening,” she added.
RA 6969 or the Toxic Substances and Hazardous and Nuclear Waste Control Act of 1990, prohibits the entry, even in transit, of hazardous and nuclear wastes and their disposal into the Philippine territorial limits for whatever purpose.
“For many years, different environmental groups have been campaigning to end exports of hazardous wastes by developed countries to developing countries like the Philippines,” Baconguis said, adding that Philippine laws allow toxic wastes to enter the country under the guise of recycling.
“The Philippines cannot continue to be a dumping ground of toxic wastes from countries that are more capable of managing their own wastes. We call on the Philippine government to immediately ratify the Basel Ban Amendment, as this is what is needed to address the loophole in the current laws,” EcoWaste president Roy Alvarez said.
The Basel Ban Amendment prohibits the export of toxic waste from developed countries such as the European Union to developing countries that can further enhance the control that is needed to prevent toxic wastes ending up in Asia.
“New Zealand is a country that prides itself in its clean and green image. A genuinely green country takes responsibility for its own toxic wastes. By exporting its own hazardous waste, it is, in effect, taking advantage of countries like the Philippines already struggling from countless environmental and social problems,” Alvarez said.
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