'We're getting Europe's waste?' US hit by plastic debris lost from UK ship

Environmentalists question why waste washing up on Maine coast was being imported from Northern Ireland for energy production

Brightly coloured plastic debris from the UK has been washing up along the coast of Maine in the US after a shipment bound for incineration fell into the sea.

The plastic debris, part of a 10,000-tonne consignment from Re-Gen Waste, a company based in Newry, Northern Ireland, has infuriated environmentalists and locals surprised to learn that the north-eastern state of Maine is importing plastic from almost 3,000 miles away.