In the last decade, South Asia in general and India, specifically, has become the major dumping ground for hazardous wastes from a large number of countries in North America and Europe. The first in this series looks at the diversity of waste that flows into India.

In the USA, in 1980 the cost of waste disposal was $.15 per ton which grew to $250 per ton in 1989 and further to $600 per ton in 2001. Under these circumstances, possibilities of dumping waste in third world countries made economic sense.

Till 1992, Africa was the favorite dumping ground for the Western world. With the signing of the Basel Convention – led largely by a cohesive African force – signatory nations could transport wastes across national boundaries. Despite significant intimidation by USA (which is the only nation not a signatory of the convention) and European nations, through threats of cuts in funds, aid etc, the African nations enforced the convention.

Since then South Asia has become the favorite dumping ground (despite India, Pakistan and Bangladesh being a signatories to the Basel Convention). From January to July, 1993 waste dumping increased by 97.3% in India, 125% in Pakistan and 37% in Bangladesh. Today India, Philippines, Hongkong, Indonesia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Malayasia are among the favorite global destinations of waste products. According to the Government of India import data, more than 59,000 tons and 61,000 tons of plastic wastes have found their way into India in the years 1999 and 2000 respectively. (Source: Statistics of Foreign Trade of India. March 2000 and March 2001. DGFT, GoI).

Waste Imports into India

Year Weight
[in kg]
Australia
Plastic waste 1990 3,000
Plastic waste 1992 16,000
Plastic waste Jan-Sept. 1993 74,000
Metal waste (other than lead) 1992 33,621,000
Lead battery waste 1992 126,000
Lead battery waste Jan-Sept. 1993 346,000

Canada
Copper and copper alloy wastes 1992 960,371
Ash and residues 1992 1,226,455
Lead waste 1992 1,007,897
Ferrous waste, iron or steel, 1992 106,005,000
Non-ferrous waste 1992 90,330
Plastic and polystyrene waste 1992 42,275
(these figures do not include waste exported from Canada via the US)

United Kingdom
Ash and residue waste Jan-July 1992 524,652
Copper waste Jan-July 1992 2,443,578
Other metal waste Jan-July 1992 719,172
Ash and residue waste Jan-May 1993 250,056
Copper wastes Jan-May 1993 2,575,413
Lead wastes Jan-May 1993 501,944
Other metal waste Jan-May 1993 1,120,608

United States
Plastic waste Jan-July 1992 3,974,700
Plastic waste 1993 7,841,800
Scrap metal 1990 1,794,011,000
Tin plate waste and tin waste 1993 26,802,360
Source: Greenpeace [1993]

Pepsi and Coke
In 1993-'94 Pepsico exported 23 shipments of used plastic bottles weighing 4500 tons to Futura Industries, a Company in Tiruvellore, Tamil Nadu under the guise of recycling. PET bottles used by the
Cola giants are not fit for recycling and the companies have so far resisted attempts to make their containers more recyclable. More than 50% of the consignment was of such non-recyclable containers, which amounts to more than 2000 tons of plastic waste, which was dumped in India in one year only.

Ann Leonard reported in 1994 that rather than switching to more environmentally benign (albeit heavier, and more expensive to transport) glass bottles, Pepsi, Coca-Cola and other plastic producers and users have set up a Los Angeles-based enterprise called the Plastics Recycling Corporation of California (PRCC) to facilitate their plastic waste exports. These companies' financial contributions to PRCC subsidize its purchase and export of the waste, virtually all to Asia.

Ron Kemalyan, the broker for PRCC's Los Angeles office, admits that despite the company's name, it maintains no actual recycling facilities, and only arranges for waste to be exported. "We are a brokerage.”
The process at Future can hardly be called recycling. There is some separation of clean bottles from ones too dirty to recycle – the latter makes up about 30% of the total, according to company management. The ‘recycled’ bottles are melted and drawn into fibers or into pellets to be incorporated into polyester made by Futura's parent company, Indian Organic Chemicals, Ltd., (IOCL). Incorporating imported waste into the production process lowers the cost of polyester production but is not true recycling.
Burning of PET results in the release of a large number of toxic and carcinogenic by-products. Chemicals emitted during its production are very toxic e.g. Ethylene Oxide, Benzene, Xylene etc. These cause immense damage to the nervous system, kidneys, blood, immune system and child birth. It also results in dioxins – one of the most toxic products known today.

The process at Futura has little in terms of on-line control – mechanisms that are mandatory for such processing in the USA or Europe.

Waste from Metal and Ashes

Metal scraps make up a large fraction of the waste dumped in South Asia. Nearly 500 containers of metal scrap arrive at ports every day. These containers include low grade metal ashes – often containing highly toxic metals in high concentrations such as arsenic, lead, cadmium and cobalt and their oxides – to relatively high grade pieces of waste metal. In fact, a large part of the scrap from the Twin Towers destroyed on September 11th, 2001 found its way to India.

Often, these metal scrap dumps include heavy metals and live ammunition . There have been numerous cases of explosions during handling of such ‘metal scrap’. Depleted uranium – a highly radioactive waste that is has been connected to a huge rise in cancer among exposed troops – is also part of the waste that is making its way to India.

Arsenic oxide, lead and Cadmium are known carcinogens that interfere in the nervous, reproductive and digestive systems and also hamper plant growth. Lead is a very stable metal and is very toxic to plant, animal and human body, resulting in pernicious anemia, recurrent gastro-intestinal upsets, peripheral neuropathy, dermatitis, renal failure and
infertility. It is confirmed carcinogen.

The metals and their oxides are highly stable and often outlive the containers which corrode over time. This waste then leaches into the soil and the groundwater, getting into the food cycle.

Electronic Waste
A growing component in the waste mix dumped in South Asia is from computers and electronics industry. Toxics Link, a Delhi-based NGO, in an investigative report found that 70 per cent electronic wastes collected from recycling units in the capital was actually exported or dumped by developed countries such as UK and USA. Reports in the British press say that Britain is throwing out more than a million tonnes of electronic "e-waste" such as broken computer monitors and discarded mobile phones every year. A Guardian report said that last year, 23,000 tonnes of IT and other electronic equipment was shipped out illegally, mostly to China, West Africa, Pakistan and India.

The Environment Agency, an arm of the British Government has warned companies involved in the export of electronic waste to countries like Pakistan, India and China that they must know what the rules are, comply with them, or risk prosecution by the Environment Agency. However, it has found it difficult to enforce the rules.

Agricultural Wastes
European nations – specifically Netherlands – have even envisaged dumping of agricultural wastes in India. A plan had been drawn up to export animal dung from Netherlands as bio-fertilizers. A shipload of such chemically impregnated toxic organic residues were sent to countries of Latin America causing a great uproar and public outcry.

Since then India has been targeted even though it has a large livestock (almost 200 million) population. An Indian Company EID Parry, in collaboration with a Dutch company Seaswan B. V. planned to import 7 million tons dung every year from Holland to Kandla port. The project has since been abandoned.

Under these circumstances, most of the pressures to stop such dumping have come from civic society. In fact, the government has done little in spite of it being a signatory of the Basel Convention and committed against dumping of waste. It does not even include civic groups for inputs in making policies vis-à-vis prevention of dumping. Corpwatch reported, for example, that in developing policies on plastics dumping, the Ministry of Environment and Forests, had barred the participation of public interest groups, trade unions, civic organizations, ragpicker associations and environmentalists in the committee, which is deliberating on issues impacting on public health, worker safety and the environment. Ironically, apart from government officials, the only other organization allowed consistent access to the Committee's decision-making is the Indian Centre for Plastics and Environment, an organization set up by the plastics industry.

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