Sri Lanka has shipped out several hundred containers filled with thousands of tonnes of illegally imported waste back to the United Kingdom, officials said on Monday.
Many Asian countries have started turning back unwanted shipments from wealthier nations.
The waste from the UK had arrived in Sri Lanka under the listings of used mattresses, carpets and rugs but had biowaste from hospitals including body parts from Mortuaries. Many of these biowastes gave off a powerful stench too. The containers came to Sri Lanka between 2017 and 2019.
The 45 containers loaded onto a ship at a Colombo port on Monday were the final batch of 263 containers holding about 3,000 tonnes of waste.
Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia have also returned hazardous wastes to their countries of origin.