BEIJING: Customs in China’s eastern port city of Qingdao seized 1,762 tons of smuggled zinc waste last week in the country’s campaign against the import of “foreign garbage.” China told the World Trade Organization (WTO) in July it would stop accepting shipments of rubbish such as waste plastic and paper as part of a campaign against “foreign garbage”. The zinc slag was found in 88 containers during a spot check in Qingdao on Dec. 1 and assessed to be a prohibited solid waste, according to a statement posted on the General Administration of Customs website on Monday.
The statement did not say where the waste had come from. Smelting this material would have produced “a large number of harmful polluting gases and wastewater,” and been detrimental to the environment and human health, the statement said.
In the first 10 months of this year, Qingdao customs organised three campaigns to tackle waste smuggling, which led to the opening of 26 criminal cases, seven administrative filings and the arrest of 43 suspects, the statement said.
