Environmental groups move quickly and block the export of German plastic waste to Vietnam

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German government called on to take their waste back immediately


Piraeus, Greece. 2 December 2021. Waste shipment authorities and COSCO shipping lines responded swiftly to a letter sent to them in the Greek port of Piraeus, early this morning by the Basel Action Network (BAN) as part of a coalition effort to prevent European wastes from being exported. The groups had learned that the ship COSCO PRIDE was to be loaded with 37 containers full of German plastic waste that were originally sent to Turkey but were now slated to be re-exported to Haiphong, Vietnam. It has now been confirmed that the containers have been blocked and will not be sailing to Asia. According to the Greek office of the COSCO company, the loading of the 37 containers in Piraeus has been stopped on request from Greek custom authorities following the warning letter.

Container Ship COSCO PRIDE, which arrived in Piraeus early the morning of November 30. It was to be loaded on December 1 with 37 containers of German Plastic Waste for Vietnam. This re-export was blocked today following a warning by environmental groups.

As reported by the German magazine ‘Wirtschaftswoche’, the wastes were sent from Germany to Turkey last year but the importer lost its license to import waste to after the Turkish government begin to crack down on mixed and dirty plastic waste imports. The Turkish authorities tried to get the German government to take the waste back, but the German government refused Turkish requests to repatriate the waste. The Turkish government then rebooked the containers for export to third countries, most prominently to Vietnam. According to trusted insider information, the environmental groups learned of the containers and traced them to the port of Piraeus where they were awaiting imminent departure. They also learned that already 16 similarly rejected COSCO containers full of German plastic waste have made their way from Turkey to Haiphong, Vietnam via Piraeus earlier this year.

The environmental groups claim the shipments are illegal based on the Waste Shipment Regulation (Article 22) and the Basel Convention (Article 8) rules that require exporting countries to repatriate and take responsibility for wastes they export when the shipment cannot be completed according to the contract. While applauding the action of Greek authorities and COSCO Shipping, all attention now turns to Germany.

"It is outrageous and unacceptable that German wastes can be diverted in this way when a direct export from Germany to Vietnam would be absolutely forbidden," said Jim Puckett, Executive Director of the Basel Action Network. "Germany should never have allowed the export of these wastes to Turkey in the first place. Second, they should have absolutely taken them back once Turkey asked them to. We are calling on them to do so now."

There are at least 80 more containers full of German plastic waste now believed to be sitting in Turkey from the COSCO, Sealand, MSC, Maersk and Hamburg Sud shipping lines.

"It is imperative that Germany take responsibility for the wastes they have been dumping in Turkey and now around the globe," said Nihan Temiz Ataş of Greenpeace Mediterranean in Turkey. "If the EU is really serious as they have indicated recently in their Green New Deal, about not forcing the rest of the world to manage Europe's waste problems, they must immediately take back all of the wastes they have recently shipped to Turkey and to Vietnam."

Manfred Santen, chemical expert of Greenpeace Germany adds: “The future German government must vow to always manage its own waste through waste avoidance and clean, mechanical recycling -- not by burning it or sneaking it off again to other countries. They must take back all of their waste from Turkey and not try to come up with rationalizations for not doing do immediately."

For more information:

Shipping Data from Turkish Sources

Letter sent by BAN

Letter from Greek Shipping Agent Confirming the Containers are Blocked

Jim Puckett, Executive Director of BAN

email: jpuckett@ban.org

phone: +1(206) 652-5555

Nihan Temiz Atas, Greenpeace Mediterranean

email: nihan.temiz@greenpeace.org

phone: +90 535 920 02 32

Manfred Santen, Greenpeace Germany

email: manfred.santen@greenpeace.org

phone: +49 151 1805 3387

Groups organizing in opposition to these shipments by Germany include:

Basel Action Network

Nexus 3 Foundation

Greenpeace e.V., Germany

Greenpeace Mediterranean

Microplastic Research Group

Zero Waste Europe

Environmental Investigation Agency

Consumers' Association of Penang & Sahabat Alam Malaysia

GAIA

Gündoğdu-Microplastic Research Group

Related Links:

About Basel Action Network

Founded in 1997, the Basel Action Network is a 501(c)3 charitable organization of the United States, based in Seattle, WA. BAN is the world's only organization focused on confronting the global environmental justice and economic inefficiency of toxic trade and its devastating impacts. Today, BAN serves as the information clearinghouse on the subject of waste trade for journalists, academics, and the general public. Through its investigations, BAN uncovered the tragedy of hazardous electronic waste dumping in developing countries. For more information, see www.BAN.org.