Albanian parliament approves law to limit waste import

Albanian parliament approved on Thursday a controversial bill in a bid to limit the import of waste from foreign countries, local media reported. Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha told the parliament that the law would protect Albania from all sorts of toxic wastes. "The law we approved in this parliament defends Albania from toxic waste. This law requires the government to exclude all toxic waste," Berisha said. He said only 50 sorts of wastes -- none of them toxic -- will be allowed into the country, while previously Albania took in 400 waste items as "the Stabilization and Association Agreement that Albania has signed with the EU allows free movement of non-hazardous waste," Berisha said. However, environmentalists and the country's opposition said they fear that Albania would become the dumping ground for Italy's waste in the wake of the new law. Albania, a small country of rolling mountains and pristine sea beaches, has already been marred by heaps of rubbish produced by itself. The problem even provoked protests from neighboring countries at the beginning of this year when garbage migrated to Montenegro and Croatia, carried by high tides and waves in the Adriatic sea. "I know the rubbish is from Albania by the labels on the plastic bottles, heaps of them along the coast," said a family hotel owner at Dubrovnic, Croatia, about 300 km north of Albania.