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Philippines returns Canadian garbage

The Philippines, one of two Southeast Asian countries protesting its treatment as a dumpsite by wealthier nations, has shipped 69 containers of what its officials called illegally transported garbage back to Canada.

Administrator Wilma Eisma of Subic Bay freeport said the garbage was loaded overnight on the container ship M/V Bavaria, which left on a 20-day journey to Vancouver and ended a "sordid chapter in our history."

Environmental activists, including those from Greenpeace and EcoWaste Coalition, welcomed the Bavaria's arrival at Subic Bay.

President Rodrigo Duterte had threatened to forcibly ship back the trash, which officials said was transported to the Philippines in 103 containers in 2013-14, and falsely declared as recyclable plastic scraps.

Several containers of the trash had been disposed of, including in a landfill, leaving 69 containers of electrical and household waste in two ports.

The Philippine government recalled its ambassador and consuls in Canada earlier this month over Ottawa's failure to comply with a May 15 deadline.

Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has also criticised the practice of wealthier countries such as the US, Canada and Japan sending their non-recyclable waste to poorer countries.

China banned the import of plastic waste last year, causing other Southeast Asian nations to become new destinations.