Clandestine import of garbage becomes a problem in Brazilian ports

SEIZURE AT THE RIO GRANDE DO SUL TERMINAL

Published in Issue No. 1151 of CartaCapital, on April 1, 2021.

In Brazil, the “passage of the cattle” by environmental gates seems to go far beyond the dreams of Minister Ricardo Salles. In Rio Grande do Sul, the Federal Public Ministry concluded, last February, a complex and lengthy agreement that dragged on for several months to solve another very serious and little-known problem in the country: the import of toxic waste. The materials arrive in containers in Brazil and include paper shavings to used hospital material, human waste, surgical gloves, disposal of material for collection in laboratories, food scraps, tires, toys ... A frightening mix. 

A recent event exposed the risks of this import. In principle, the operation looked like a normal purchase of cardboard shavings for reuse in the production of boxes for packaging food, fruit and small pieces or fragile objects. Embarked at the Port of the Everglades, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, the 65 containers, with approximately 1.1 thousand tons, arrived at the Port of Rio Grande between December 2019 and February 2020. Upon disembarkation, part of the material is inspected by scanners . Another, opened by sampling. In this case, the inspection found that a certain amount of the imported product was mixed with toxic waste. 

According to prosecutor Daniel Luís Dalberto, the analysis of the material and packaging of the products indicated that the garbage had been collected in shopping malls , schools, supermarkets and hospitals in several states on the East Coast of the USA. The importer was obliged to remove the cargo before opening the containers, since the material "contained insects and living organisms due to organic waste". The company, legally constituted, had its name kept confidential as part of the agreement. “The businessmen claimed that they were victims in this negotiation. We have informed the US authorities of the incident. We notified the IRS and two other states, whose ports also received goods. ” Convicted, the Brazilians were fined 706 thousand reais. The material was returned to the United States.

The toxic waste trade has intensified across the planet. Although in many countries it is strictly regulated, in others the laws are fragile

It was not the first time. The disembarkation of illegal debris began in 2009. At the time, the journalist and writer from Rio Grande do Sul Diniz Júnior was visiting the Port of Hamburg, Germany, when he learned from European environmentalists that a huge amount of waste had been sent to Brazil. “When I returned, on a journalist's instinct, I went to the IRS. What I heard appalled me. They confirmed the arrival of 89 containers with 1.4 tons of toxic and chemical waste ”. The import cargo documents referred to the purchase of ethylene polymers, but the cargo was medical waste, chemical toilet waste, batteries, condoms and used syringes, expired medicines and, amazingly, dirty diapers. In 2011, it took place in the port of Pernambuco in Suape. The IRS seized 46 tons of “defective cotton fabrics”.They were sheets discarded from US hospitals. In the same year, the importer had brought six other shipments that were not retained by the inspection.

In 2012, at Santa Catarina Itajaí, 20 tons of hospital waste from Spain were retained. In the following year, two other seizures, from Canada and Spain, with 40 and 19 tons, respectively, with the same material. Diniz became a garimpeiro of toxic waste. For eight years he researched and summarized the crime in a book published in 2016, Toma Lá Que Lixo É Teu . “Tons of garbage do not cross the Atlantic if there is no one who dispatches on one side and receives on the other. In Brazil, for some time, the presumption of innocence of importers was believed. Fortunately, now, the Public Ministry, in partnership with the Federal Revenue Service, has acted steadily. ” 

The toxic waste trade has intensified across the planet. Although in many countries it is strictly regulated, in others the laws are fragile. “The African continent has always been the target of these traders. Mainly, as an electronic waste deposit. Now, they are turning to Brazil ”, says Ana Angélica Alabarce, head of Ibama's Technical Unit in Santos, headquarters of the largest commercial port in Brazil. Negotiations take place over the internet. The Basel Convention, discussed and concluded in Switzerland in 1989, regulates the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Deposits worldwide andrecognizes the sovereign right of any country to define the rules for the entry and destination, in its territory, of waste considered or defined as hazardous in its national legislation. Brazil is a signatory to the convention, which, in addition to curbing illegal trafficking, provides for the intensification of international cooperation for environmentally sound management. There is a legal market for waste, materials used as inputs for the cement industry, glass and metal scraps, as well as plastics and paper for recycling. 

One of the obstacles to curbing smuggling, in addition to the high flow of cargo and goods in Brazilian ports - and throughout the world - is the rampant increase in the production of waste in modern societies. “The final destination of the tailings is a serious issue that we have to face. Just check the problem of plastic in the oceans ”, says Dalberto. China, which imported and processed large quantities of waste, has closed its borders in recent years. As a result, the clandestine market redirected pressure to other countries, including Brazil. “For all these reasons, it is likely that there are cases like these in Rio Grande happening in other Brazilian ports. It will be necessary for everyone to be attentive. ”

In the midst of the debate, there are those who defend the idea that each country should store its own garbage. Others argue that, in a globalized economy, the free movement of goods, including waste, is inevitable, provided it is properly regulated. For the journalist Diniz Júnior, "what must be combated is the illegal traffic of residues, the mafias that dominate this trade, so as not to turn poor countries into real dumps".