Indonesia says it will immediately send eight containers holding 210 tonnes of household rubbish back to Australia after inspectors declared the material too contaminated to be recycled. It is the latest in a series of announcements by Southeast Asian nations that they will not be dumping grounds for overseas waste. Indonesian customs officials said the containers of paper from Australia were contaminated by electronic waste, used cans, plastic bottles, old bottles of engine oil and loose shoes. Some of this was deemed to be toxic and hazardous material. Opening the containers up for the press on Tuesday morning, gloved customs officials held up examples of the offending material, including used nappies and soft drink cans. Speaking at Tanjung Perak port in Surabaya, customs officials said eight containers of waste would be returned. The customs office said it was obliged to protect Indonesia and its environment from imports of hazardous waste and had coordinated with related government ministries, including trade and environment.

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