Prime Minister Justin Trudeau revealed Tuesday that he and President Rodrigo Duterte touched on the issue about the shipment of tons of garbage, which was dumped in the Philippines four years ago.
Before leaving the Philippines Tuesday afternoon, Trudeau said his meeting with Duterte happened on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Summit.
He said his country is very open to work with the Philippine government to resolve the garbage problem, despite legal barriers that prevented Canada from receiving back the wastes.
“These impediments have now been addressed. So it is theoretically possible to bring them back,” Trudeau said at the International Media Center (IMC) at World Trade Center.
Ontario-based private firm Chronic Inc had imported to the Philippines at least 55 containers filled with trash, including household waste, in 2013.
Initially declared to contain only plastic scraps, it was found to have nonrecyclable plastics, household wastes and used adult diapers.
Trudeau, however, said the Philippine and Canadian governments need to settle issues including who will pay for the shipment of the illegal trash to the country.
Trudeau said a “Canadian solution” is being developed to settle the issue on the illegal garbage shipment during the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit held in Manila last 2015.
Environmentalist groups have urged Duterte to hold Canada accountable for the dumping of the hazardous waste.
They also urged both Canada and the Philippines to ratify the Basel Ban Amendment which prohibits the movement of hazardous wastes from developed to developing countries even for recycling.
