ResourceCo Asia, Send Back the Waste to Australia

admin October 15, 2015 0 Comments

Sahabat Alam Malaysia urges ResourceCo Asia (M) Sdn Bhd to immediately return the solid waste that has been imported from Australia for the purpose of manufacturing fuel for Lafarge.

This issue was first brought to SAM’s attention by a concerned individual who found that the company located in IGB Industrial Park in Ipoh, Perak had falsified import documents to declare the solid waste as solid fuel. This was done because Malaysia restricts the import of hazardous wastes and other wastes for recovery.
Based on their website, ResourceCo Asia (M) Sdn Bhd established its operations in Malaysia in October 2010 and in May 2011 committed to an exclusive fuel supply arrangement with Lafarge Malaysia. Built on a similar platform to the Process Engineered Fuel (PEF) operation in Australia, it is stated that the facility in Ipoh has capability to manufacture up to 50,000 tonnes of PEF per annum. The fuel generated from the facility is then to be used for co-firing the Lafarge Kanthan and Rawang cement kilns.

SAM had followed up with the Department of Environment (DOE) and the Royal Customs Department of Malaysia regarding this matter. The DOE had written to SAM that the waste must be sent back to Australia as stipulated in Article 9 of the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal.

Under article 9 of the Basel Convention, illegal traffic occurs if the transboundary movement of hazardous wastes is taking place under the following conditions:

· without notification pursuant to the provisions of the Convention to all States concerned;

· without the consent of a State concerned;

· through consent obtained by falsification, misrepresentation or fraud;

· when movement does not conform in a material way with the documents; or

· when movement results in deliberate disposal of hazardous wastes or other wastes

in contravention of the Convention and of general principles of international law.

Hence, SAM is holding this protest action to urge ResourceCo Asia to send back the waste immediately because until early October the waste was still in the premises here. We also call upon the DOE and relevant authorities to take stringent action against the company for illegal trafficking of waste, falsifying import documents and defying order to send back the waste to Australia as soon as notified by the DOE.

Malaysia is not a Dumping Ground. Return the Waste to Australia.

Press Statement, 15 October 2015