Philippines says 'baaaaaaaaa bye' to 1,500 tons of trash as it ships back to Canada

The Philippines is taking on some drastic spring cleaning, shipping back 1,500 tons of illegally-imported trash to Canada after a years-long standoff between the two nations.

Sixty-nine containers of garbage were loaded overnight on a cargo ship at a port northwest of Manila in Subic, embarking on its journey Friday for 20 days.

"Baaaaaaaaa bye," tweeted Philippine foreign secretary Teddy Locsin Jr. with an image of the ship's departure.

Since the trash was originally shipped to the Philippines sometime in 2013 or 2014, it has created tensions between the two countries – which were exacerbated when Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte threatened to "declare war" in April over the garbage.

Earlier this month, Canada agreed to cover the cost of shipping the waste back.

“The government of Canada is taking all the necessary measures to ensure safe and environmentally sound transport, handling and disposal of the waste in Canada," said Mark Johnson, spokesperson for Canada’s environment and climate change ministry, in a statement.

In 2016, a Filipino court declared the shipment illegal after it was revealed that the garbage was originally packaged as plastic recyclables.

It serves as the latest stand against "waste imports" by Southeast Asian countries. After China banned the import of waste, Malaysia has emerged as a prime dumping ground for international trash.

However, Malaysian environment minister Yeo Bee Yinannounced on Tuesday that Malaysia would be shipping back over 3,000 tons of waste back to its original countries, the Guardian reported.

Contributing: The Associated Press

Follow Joshua Bote on Twitter: @joshua_bote

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Philippines says 'baaaaaaaaa bye' to 1,500 tons of trash as it ships back to Canada