The claim was made in a report issued recently by Indonesian environmental group Nexus3 and global waste trade watchdog Basel Action Network. In it, the groups alleged that the government sent containers of contaminated scrap materials to India and other countries.

Of at least 58 containers meant to be sent back to the US, 38 of them were diverted to India, the groups found. Meanwhile, three containers were sent to South Korea and one container each went to Thailand, Vietnam, Mexico, the Netherlands and Canada. Only 12 containers were returned to the US.

The groups also reported that the 58 containers were re-exported from various importers in East Java, including paper mills that had imported recycled paper but instead received papers mixed with plastic scraps.

The environmental watchdogs alleged that the government defied its commitment to the Basel Convention, an international treaty that controls the movement of hazardous waste between countries. The convention, ratified by Indonesia, stipulates a provision on returning imported hazardous waste to its country of origin.

The Finance Ministry’s customs and excise director general, Heru Pambudi, said on Thursday that there were two East Java recycling companies responsible for making deliveries to seven countries that did not initially export the hazardous waste.

However, the paper recycling companies, PT Mega Surya Eratama (MSE) and PT Surabaya Mekabox (SM), had both filled out their re-export documents accordingly, with MSE ordering for 38 containers to be sent to the US and SM sending 20 containers to Germany.

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