On May 19, 2021 -- The Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives together with #breakfreefromplastic is uncovering the veil on the waste trade that still persists all around the world. Waste trade has been around for decades, and even though there have been efforts to put a stop to the practice, borderlines remain blurred. Malaysia recently sent back 300 containers of waste to several countries. In 2019, the Philippines also sent back waste to Canada after over five years of calls from civil society organizations. In 2020, Italian company Sviluppo Risorse Ambientali illegally exported 282 containers of mixed municipal waste to Tunisia under deceptive claims that the waste was processed and would be recycled. Even Turkey was recently touted as “Europe’s garbage dump” by several news organizations.

Why is waste trade still happening despite push back from countries receiving them? How bad is the situation in the region? What are country governments doing to prevent this and are they effective? How dirty is the trade? And how much damage is this causing to the environment? These are questions we answer in an upcoming call together with representatives from different environmental groups across the globe.

Date: May 19, 2021

Time: 2:00-3:00 pm PHST (GMT+8)

Register here: https://zoom.us/j/96949609252

Joining the panel are:

• Mageswari Sangaralingam, Consumers Association of Penang, (Malaysia),

• Ray Yeung, Campaign and Communications Manager,The  Green Earth (Hong Kong)

• Hemantha Withanage, Executive Director, Centre for Environmental Justice (Sri Lanka)

• Tina Ngata, Environment, Indigenous, and human rights advocate (New Zealand) 

• Hosted by Ian McIntyre, The Vibes (Malaysia) and GAIA-BFFP Asia Pacific Media Fellow