China’s General Administration of Customs has reported that it has captured 111,100 tonnes of illegal waste as part of the second phase of this year’s Blue Sky programme.
The illegal material was mostly the completely banned waste plastic, waste electrical goods, waste slag and some other products.
Coordinated action at 14 ports was undertaken involving 416 police officers.
A total of 23 smuggling gangs were identified and 58 people arrested.
However, a spokesperson for the General Administration of Customs noted that imports of illegal waste were on a downward trend. He also said that with demand still exists for foreign materials until domestic solid waste processing and utilisation enterprises are fully established.
He also noted that Chinese Customs will continue to strengthen supervision and crack down on smuggling of illegal foreign garbage.
