TORONTO (Reuters) - The government of Canada said on Monday it is in discussions with Malaysia about retrieving plastic waste that originated from Canada and is currently in Malaysia.
In late May, the Malaysian government said it would send 3,000 tons of plastic waste back to 14 countries of origin, including Canada, the United States, Japan, France, Australia and Britain.
There was no indication of how much of the plastic waste was of Canadian origin.
"The Government of Canada is indeed working with Malaysian authorities to address any issues related to the shipment of waste from Canada to Malaysia," the Environment and Climate Change Canada Department said in a statement.
The Canadian government reached a deal last month with Manila to take back household waste, which is expected to be in Canada by late June. But Environment and Climate Change Canada clarified that the ship bringing back plastic waste from the Philippines is not being used to retrieve waste from Malaysia.
Foreign waste has caused diplomatic friction in recent months within Southeast Asia. The Philippines recalled diplomats to Canada in May over illegally disposed household waste from Canada that was not returned to Canada by the deadline.
(Reporting by Tyler Choi; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)
