Customs seizes over 111,000 tons of banned foreign waste

Customs authorities in 11 provincial areas wrapped up the latest crackdown on smuggling of banned solid wastes into China on Tuesday.

At least 111,200 metric tons of smuggled foreign garbage was confiscated in this round of action, according to the General Administration of Customs.

Since 2018, about 2.2 million tons of banned foreign garbage has been confiscated. A total of 783 cases were filed and 1,044 suspects nabbed.

Up to now, customs officials in cities including Shijiazhuang in Hebei province, Dalian in Liaoning province and Nanjing in Jiangsu province have transported more than 70,000 tons of the confiscated waste back to their sources, while officials in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, has burned 110 tons of smuggled clothes.

China started to ban imports of 24 types of solid waste in 2018. An action plan approved by the central government that increases the limits on the types and amounts of the waste is expected to be completed by the end of this year.