The Human Cost of Global Waste

Andreas Bernstorff has lots of dirty stories to tell.

In the course of his work for Greenpeace, he has documented more than 80 toxic waste scandals in Africa, mostly during the 1980s. Bernstorff thought that industrial countries dumping their chemical waste into developing countries was a thing of the past -- until he found out about the current toxic waste scandal in Ivory Coast.

"It's the largest known toxic waste scandal in Africa since 1988," he said.

Six people have died so far from breathing poisonous fumes and some 9,000 have been treated for respiratory difficulties and other symptoms of poisoning, according to official statistics. The first signs of poisoning appeared in the capital city of Abidjan at the beginning of September.

According to United Nations reports, a large portion of the toxic waste in Ivory Coast was piped into the ocean and the lagoon near Abidjan. Reliable sources have indicated that toxic substances have also been discovered near vegetable fields, said Youssouf Omar, the UNICEF representative in Ivory Coast.

Toxic substance likely tank residue

In the night between Aug. 19 and 20, around 400 tons of toxic waste were dumped at several sites in the capital, a city of four million people. The poisonous material had allegedly been brought in on a container ship called "Probo Koala," which belonged to a Greek company but had flags from Panama and had been chartered by the Dutch firm Trafigura Beheer BV.

The exact composition of the toxic substance continues to puzzle experts, though they do know that the black, slimy mass contains chlorine compounds and hydrogen sulfide. Shortness of breath, nose bleeds, diarrhea and head aches are the symptoms it causes.

"My hypothesis is that it is the residue from the inside of tanks after they were cleaned," said Bernstorff. "Container ships and tanks from a refinery have to be cleaned regularly since a layer of tar builds up at the bottom. It is removed with chlorine containing solvents and sulfuric acid."

International treaties regulate disposal

In the Netherlands, the company that chartered the ship is under investigation. Trafigura asserts that they received permission to dispose of the waste, which Bernstorff considers implausible.

The company's press statement indicates that the material it discarded was indeed residue washings from tanks carrying gasoline blend tanks. The material was not rejected by any port, including the port authorities in Amsterdam, according to the statement.

Trafigura has violated three international treaties which came about as a result of the toxic waste scandals in the 1980s, said Bernstorff. For example, the Basel Convention from 1989, which has since been signed by a total of 170 countries, forbids the export of dangerous waste to developing countries.

"Africa got the upper hand with the Lomé Treaty, which committed the EU not to transport any waste to Africa," he said. "And in 1991 there was the Bamako Convention, where all the African states decided not to import any refuse."

Michael Dreyer from the Society for Technical Cooperation said that the Basel Convention functions relatively well. He advises developing countries in the application of international conventions and considers the recent toxic waste scandal a regrettable exception to a situation that is otherwise fairly positive.

Electro-trash and ship wreckage replace toxic waste

For experts like Dreyer and Bernstorff, global trade with hazardous chemicals is not as much of a problem as the rapidly growing amounts of electronic waste and wreckage from ships.

Old computers are often not declared as waste, but are shipped abroad as material to repair or recycling. When it arrives, it is simply dumped.

"True recycling is more expensive than disposing of it," said Dreyer.

Electronic waste is mainly exported to Asia and West Africa. Some 85 percent of the electronic parts that come out of Western Europe or North America land on a garbage dump in Nigeria where they are burned, said Bernstorff.

Unlike electro-trash, discarded ships can fetch a high price on the international rubbish market.

"No ship in the world will rust away in an industrial country," said Bernstorff. China and India are the main ship buyers. Most of steel carcasses are tainted with asbestos and toxic paints.

"Usually it's Indian companies that buy up the old ships. Depending on the price of steel, a standard ship made of 10,000 tons of steel can bring in $4 million," added Bernstorff.