PHNOM PENH, Sept. 17 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia has returned all 83 plastic waste-filled containers to their countries of origin, the country's General Department of Customs and Excise (GDCE) said in a statement on Tuesday.
The statement said local Chungyuen Plastic Manufacture Co., Ltd, the illegal importer of the waste, shipped 14 rubbish-filled containers out of Cambodia on Aug. 20 and continued to ship the remaining 69 containers out of the kingdom on Sept. 15.
"So, Chungyuen Plastic Manufacture Co., Ltd has fulfilled all the conditions set by the authorities," the statement said.
The company has also paid a fine of 1.03 billion riel (253,900 U.S. dollars) for illegally importing the rubbish into Cambodia, it added.
Cambodia found the 83 plastic waste-filled containers at the Sihanoukville Autonomous Port in the southwestern coastal province of Preah Sihanouk on July 16.
According to the GDCE, the Chungyuen Plastic Manufacture Co., Ltd had brought the waste into the country in 27 shipments, starting from September 2018 to January 2019.
The waste, weighing 1,592 tons in total, was shipped to the country from the United States and Canada, GDCE's director general Kun Nhim said, adding that 70 containers, weighing 1,322 tons, were imported from the United States, and 13 containers, weighing 270 tons, from Canada.
Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen said in late July that the Southeast Asian nation did not allow any import of plastic waste or garbage for recycling.
"Cambodia is not a dustbin where foreign countries can dispose of any out-of-date e-waste," he said.
