Dumping of global trash in South Asia has gone up in the last decade. There has also been a concurrent increase in dumping of technologies, processes and products that are difficult or have environmental problems.

Dumping Products
An article put together by Toxics Link listed products that have been banned around the world owing to their environmental and safety hazards in production and use, and that continue to be produced and/or marketed in India. These include a large number of drugs that are known to have carcinogenic side-effects or affect the neurological system and have hence been banned in USA and Europe.

Dow is an international company of much stature in the industry; among environmentalists, it is known to be among the dirtiest. Besides its current involvement in the Bhopal Union Carbide plant, it sells products in the domestic market in South Asia that have been banned from domestic use in the USA. Dursban, a pesticide that was taken off the home market owing to high toxicity risks for children and pets continues to be sold in South Asia where DOW claims that it is safe for children? Why these double standards? Or are South Asian children not as important? More importantly, why do local governments not hold the company to these standards?

Dumping Technologies
A number of highly toxic technologies have also been moved to South Asia. Technologies to create energy out of waste through processes that burn, pyrolize, gasify, or take the waste through a rapid oxidation process are among the most significant offenders. The technologies take on many names; however, all of these require deployment of extensive control systems in the US, Europe, Japan or Australia that have made them economically unfeasible.

While the waste is oxidized, the absence of complete oxidation (owing to necessary through put driven by plant economics) and the presence of chloro-polymers and chloro-aromatics in the waste, invariably results in the formation of dioxins. These are among the most toxic chemicals known to human beings with acute toxicity levels in pico-grams of dioxin per Kg body weight.

These toxins accumulate in the human (or mammalian body) and is transferred through milk, meat, etc. It also passes to the infant through breast-feeding. In fact, the Japanese government had asked women in affected areas to reduce breast feeding of their children. While some subsequent studies, since, claim that there are no correlations and others claim that breast feeding does pass dioxins, their toxicity has not been questioned.

Under enormous environmental pressure and known effect to human communities, this technology has been phased out or used under highly controlled environments in the so called developed world.

In the last five years, thus, companies owning these technologies have moved into South Asia and Africa. They have, in fact, received subsidies from local government – such as Chennai – to run these plants that make expensive energy releasing highly toxic chemicals into an unsuspecting community.

While the civic society has opposed these processes, the companies have often used jargon and changed terminology to refute these claims. The absence of extensive knowledge in public society has made it difficult to demand laws to control the use of these technologies.

Another example has been the shifting of technologies to make pollutant intensive precursors to South Asia, Africa or Taiwan. During a surprise raid by a sub-committee charged by the Supreme Court to monitor waste in Gujarat, it was found that Aventis Pharma – a Multinational with global operations – located within the Ankleshwar Industrial estate was selling its hazardous waste laced with mercury through a fake company. Even though the sub-committee filed charges against the company, it has been difficult to implement action or suspend operations owing to bureaucratic unwillingness.

Hema Chemicals in another such venture. Hema Chemicals produces Sodium dichromate, among other dyes and specialty organic compounds. While the courts have found the company guilty of chemical dumping of a highly corrosive hexavalent chromium compound, and operations have been subsequently brought to a halt, the Supreme Court’s order asking the company to deposit Rs 17 Crores for remediation has yet to be followed. The company has not yet – to the knowledge of the investigating team – paid a single rupee for remediation.

Similarly, processes necessary for battery recycling, in addition to the waste batteries themselves, have been moved to South Asia. For one, the batteries are highly hazardous packages with high incidence of leakage of lead, mercury, and other heavy metals as well as acids. Often the acids are drained into the gutters on in standing water and the heavy metals dumped into pits, thus getting into the ground water. Their recycling processes also require significant infrastructure for control and for safe handling. Neither of these is necessary in South Asia so most of these processes from around the world have moved to South Asia.

Ship breaking is another hazardous process that has been relocated to South Asia with ship breaking units in Bangladesh, India and its rejuvenation in Pakistan with the Musharraf government giving tax breaks to these industries.

This is another industry that has been highlighted by numerous international and local groups for the environmental hazards as well as the exposure of laborers and local communities to highly toxic chemicals released in the process.

In all these cases, local governments have turned a blind eye to the environmental hazards of these technologies and industries, even as communities in the west sleep in peace that the products they use are ‘recycled’ and that it does not affect them.

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