COLOMBO: Sri Lanka shipped out to Britain on Monday the last of several hundred containers filled with thousands of tonnes of illegally imported waste, officials said.

Several Asian countries have in recent years been pushing back against an onslaught of refuse from wealthier nations and have started turning back unwanted shipments. The waste from Britain arrived in Sri Lanka between 2017 and 2019 and was listed as “used mattresses, carpets and rugs”.