Jun 26, 2025 at 07:17 PM PDT
Karah Rucker (Anchor/News Reporter)
Malaysia says a ban on plastic waste imports from the United States will begin on Tuesday, July 1. That could create problems for California, which sends much of its plastic waste overseas.
The ban starts next week because the U.S. has failed to ratify the Basel Convention, Malaysia said. It’s one of only a few countries to do so.
Read MorePublished Jun 26, 2025 3:07 PM by The Maritime Executive
The long-awaited Hong Kong International Convention setting standards for the industry to dismantle end-of-life vessels has gone into force. It comes, however, amidst criticism that the agreement fails to address many key issues in safety and sustainability, and the concerns of beaching in ship recycling.
Read MorePublished: June 26, 2025
Updated: June 26, 2025
by Colin Staub
The Malaysian government recently published regulations indicating the country will stop all U.S.-sourced imports of scrap plastic, including e-plastics from electronics, on July 1. Reports from plastic traders indicate the flow of scrap plastic into Malaysia has already slowed.
Read MorePosted by Chris Voloschuk, Associate Editor
Published June 26, 2025
On July 1, imports of all plastic scrap will be prohibited from entering Malaysia.
Read MoreOn July 1, imports of all plastic waste will be prohibited from entering Malaysia, a country that currently receives more plastic waste from rich developed countries than any other non-OECD country.
Read More12 June 2025. Seattle, WA, USA. Nice, France. At this week’s United Nations Ocean Conference in Nice, some of the world’s largest shipping lines are touting their environmental credentials while continuing to be key facilitators of the global dumping of plastic waste on developing countries.
Read MoreSeattle, USA. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Bangkok, Thailand. May 22, 2025. Recent government seizures of intermodal containers containing illegal shipments of electronic waste (e-waste) from the United States to Thailand and Malaysia have taken place, as a result of a renewed campaign of citizen alerts known as "Operation Can Opener".
Read MoreThe European Commission has added shredded battery waste, known as ‘black mass’ to its list of hazardous waste materials.
Read MoreFMT takes a closer look into e-waste, why some are concerned, and what others see as potential benefits.
Read MoreAfter 12 weeks have transpired since the arrival of the Turkish ship Moliva, containing 102 containers of suspected toxic waste, the Basel Action Network (BAN) and Milieukontakt of Albania denounced the complete silence from the government and the apparent lack of any progress on the case from the Government of Albania and the Durres Prosecutor's office.
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Read MoreOver 80 acres of land that the Greater Accra Regional Coordinating Council (GARCC) salvaged after the demolition of the Agbogbloshie scrapyard and the Onion Market four years ago are under siege.
Read MoreSeattle, USA, Durres, Albania. November 8, 2024. A Turkish-flagged ship, Moliva XA443A, suspected of carrying toxic waste, was permitted to dock at Albania's main port on Friday.
Authorities initially barred the vessel from entering Durres, located 33 kilometers (20 miles) west of Tirana, after a watchdog organization raised concerns about its cargo.
The Seattle-based Basel Action Network (BAN), an environmental NGO, had flagged the ship to Albanian authorities in August, following information from a whistleblower.
The group suspected the ship was transporting approximately 2,100 tons of toxic dust, a byproduct from pollution control filters in the steel industry.
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An estimated 2,100 total metric tonnes of suspected hazardous waste packed in 102 containers aboard the Turkish-flagged container ship MOLIVA finally returned to Durres, Albania today after travelling thousands of miles across the globe to Southeast Asia and back.
Turkish ship MOLIVA, arrives in Durres with 102 containers of dust suspected to be hazardous waste. Source: Marinetraffic, copyright Gianluca Balloni.
Read MoreA Seattle-based NGO specialising in tracking toxic waste urged Albania on Tuesday to lead a transparent probe into hundreds of tons of possibly hazardous material expected to be shipped there next weekend.
In early July, 102 containers loaded, according to customs documents, with iron oxide, sailed from Albania's port of Durres for Thailand.
But according to information provided to the Basel Action Network (BAN) by a whistle-blower, they were also carrying electric furnace dust (EAFD).
Read MoreSeattle, USA, Durres, Albania. October 21, 2024. An estimated 2,100 total metric tonnes of suspected hazardous waste packed in 102 containers are expected to be returned to their country of origin, Albania, on October 27th, 2024, via the Italian port of Gioia Tauro after having sailed all the way to Singapore on their intended pathway to Thailand.
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