British garbage rotting at two southern ports annoys Brazil

New Delhi, July 18 (ANI): Brazilians are reportedly annoyed over 1,200 tonnes of British garbage rotting at two southern ports, ever since it arrived in container ships earlier this year.

The trash is said to include toilet seats, dirty nappies, and used syringes.

Officials say that it was destined for Brazilian companies that said they were expecting shipments of recyclable plastic.

Instead, port officials found the containers that originated at the port of Felixstowe packed with trash, ranging from the chemical toilet seats to food remnants and computer pieces.

Brazil's federal prosecution office now wants that the Foreign Ministry request Britain to take back the shipments, reports the China Daily.

"We will ask for the repatriation of this garbage. Clearly, Brazil is not a big rubbish dump of the world," said Roberto Messias, the president of Brazilian environment agency IBAMA.

Companies involved in the shipments have been fined by IBAMA, with Messias saying that it was "difficult to believe" they were innocent of any wrongdoing.

Issuing a statement in this regard, the British Embassy said that an investigation had been launched, and that it would "not hesitate to act" if it was found that a company had violated the Basel Convention on the movement of hazardous waste.

Both countries are signatories of the treaty, which came into force in 1992. (ANI)