Sideways News

The rich world dumps its waste on poorer nations

It’s an immoral but not isolated incident. The dumping of waste on poor countries by the developed world is a frequent occurrence.

British oil trading giant, Trafigura, is to pay £30 million in compensation to inhabitants of the Ivory Coast after the company dumped lethal toxic waste near Abidjan (the commercial capital) in 2006.

Trafigura, whose 2008 turnover of £44 billion is double the entire GDP of the Ivory Coast, bought a cheap consignment of oil. The oil was sold at profit and the toxic sludge left over pumped onto a ship, the Probo Koala.

The vessel docked in Amsterdam, where Trafigura was told by Dutch authorities that it would cost half a million euros to safely dispose of the waste. Trafigura pumped the waste back onto the ship.

A month later, in August 2006, it was dumped at 18 different sites on the Ivory Coast.

“It was revolting, monstrous, inhumane – but scarcely different from what happens in Africa almost every day,” wrote George Monbiot in the Guardian.

Fly-tipping: outside the law?
Global fly-tipping - the developed world dumping unwanted waste on the developing world - is illegal. Basel convention forbids European Union nations dumping hazardous waste in poor countries. But monitoring this law is, according to Greenpeace, nearly impossible.

Ironically, Somali pirates (primarily out for plundering booty) are the most effective deterrent. They provide an inadvertent patrol service, monitoring illegal dumping and factory fishing.

There are no prevention methods for illegal dumping. These aren't even huge consignments of toxic waste – although Trafigura’s actions provide a powerful example – but the western world's discarded phones and computers are ending up on the rubbish dumps of the developing world.

Curse of the consumer culture
According to Consumers International, 6.6 million tonnes of electronic equipment leaves the EU illegally each year.

“Dump your telly over a hedge and you can expect big trouble. Dump 10,000 in Nigeria and you can expect to get away with it,” writes Monbiot.

We’re part of a consumer culture. We don’t think twice about upgrading our TV or laptop. And who isn’t itching to switch their mobile for an iPhone?

Campaigning for green goods
In the late 80s, disposing of electronic waste – a lot of which has toxic components – became a lot more difficult. There's now strict EU legislation as to how it’s done, and it isn't cheap.

"As long as this waste exists, and there’s an economic incentive to avoid the proper disposal process, it will end up in countries where people and the environment are less protected," Marietta Harjono, Greenpeace toxics campaigner, told Sideways News.

Greenpeace advocates green production of electrical goods. It's lobbying the major electronic manufacturers – Sony, Samsung and Toshiba – on their policies on toxic chemicals, recycling and climate change.

“Once you make waste there are always shady people who will find a way to earn money with it. Invariably it ends up in the developing world,” sys Harjono. "The only way to avoid this is not to make waste, or at the very least, to strictly monitor its toxicity – that’s why we lobby the manufacturers. It’s a step in the right direction."

Trafigura, still vehemently denying accusations, has been forced to pay up a sum that barely dents its enormous economic turnover. For the Ivory Coast, struggling to recover from civil war and with 21 million people living on less than a dollar a day, it’s small compensation.

It may look like Trafigura have got away with little more than an economic rap on the knuckles, but it has caught public attention: awareness of global fly-tipping has risen. And as individuals, we all have a role to play.

SIDEWAYS News for fresh perspectives