A cargo ship has arrived in a northern port in the Philippines, and is ready to return a massive pile of rotting garbage to Canada — 1,500 tonnes to be exact.

A cargo ship arrived in a northern Philippine port on Thursday to transport 69 containers of garbage back to Canada that officials say were shipped illegally to the Philippines.

Metro Vancouver describes the facility as the "most environmentally sustainable option to recover energy and resources from waste that cannot be reused or recycled."

Environment Minister Catherine McKenna says the Canadian trash that has been rotting in the Philippines for nearly six years will be back on Canadian soil before the end of June.

Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. tweeted Thursday that the Philippines "shall maintain a diminished diplomatic presence in Canada until its garbage is ship bound there."

Canada has agreed to pay the full cost of bringing 69 garbage-laden shipping containers back across the Pacific Ocean to Vancouver - but it remains unclear just how much that will be.

The roughly six dozen containers will be shipped back to the Port of Vancouver if the offer is accepted.

Meanwhile, Canada says it is working on a solution to the lingering garbage dispute.

After Duterte threatened to "declare war" on Canada if the garbage isn't returned to Canada within a week, Canadian officials indicated for the first time that they are willing to bring the garbage back once some final negotiations with the Philippines occur.

On Tuesday, President Rodrigo Duterte said he will “declare war” against Canada if the situation isn't dealt with in the coming week.