(Yicai Global) July 4 -- China's Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) will intensify its crackdown on environment-related regulatory violations of companies engaging in the processing of imported waste or so-called 'foreign garbage.'

The MEP will unleash a one-month blitz of environment-related legal violations by firms that process imported waste and will impose accountability if they fail to take corrective measures after being ordered to, the agency said today.

Though small, some imported waste processors are highly polluting and commit serious environment-related legal infractions, such as having non-functional pollution control facilities that release severe environmental pollution in some areas, an MEP official said.

The agency will recruit personnel from 27 provinces and municipalities to form 60 inspection groups, with each group comprising five environmental enforcement officers and two solid waste management officers, the official said.

Besides inspecting these companies' waste disposal facilities, the inspection groups will also investigate whether they ply such illegal activities as sales of solid waste import licenses and illegally importing waste.