Indonesia will send back more than 210 tonnes of rubbish to Australia after it was found to contain banned materials including household garbage and used electronics, officials say.
The move comes amid growing public opposition in South East Asia to imports of waste from industrialised countries.
"The scrap paper imported from Australia was contaminated with garbage including plastic bottles, used lubricants and scrap electronics," said Basuki Suryanto, head of the customs department at the Tanjung Perak port in Surabaya, Indonesia's second largest city.
"We are taking action to protect the public from hazardous materials that pollute the environment," he said.
