GP Urges German Gov to Finance Re-export of Waste

[The.Greenbase@green2.greenpeace.org]

GREENPEACE URGES GERMAN GOVERNMENT TO FINANCE RE-EXPORT OF
WASTE  
  
Beirut, 17 January 1997 - The Greenpeace  
Mediterranean Office today urged the German  
Environment Ministry in Bonn to finance the re- 
export of 560 tons of German plastic waste stored in  
36 containers in Beirut Port since August last year.  
  
The call came two days after the authorities in  
Stuttgart, the German state of Baden-Wuerttemberg,  
asked the companies responsible for sending the 36  
containers to return all the mixed plastic waste that is  
partly contaminated with chemicals, outdated  
medicine and metals.  
  
The waste originates from a company in the city of  
Philippsburg, Baden-Wuerttemberg. This one and the  
exporting company are broke. According to the law,  
the German government's "Solidarity Fund for Re- 
Exporting Waste" must therefore pay for shipping  
back the containers from Lebanon. (1)  
  
"The state of Baden-Wuerttemberg now dumped the  
problem on the federal Environment Ministry in  
Bonn which administrates the solidarity fund," said  
Fouad Hamdan of the Greenpeace Mediterranean  
Office in Beirut. "The fund was set up by the German  
industry to finance the return of German waste  
illegally dumped in developing countries."  
  
Two days ago, the authorities in Stuttgart confirmed  
a Lebanese official report saying that the 36  
containers were full of mixed plastic waste that is  
partly contaminated. They said that the waste cannot  
be recycled in Lebanon, and this country was not  
responsible for importing it. (2)  
  
Last October, Greenpeace helped uncover this waste  
trade scandal. Together with German experts from  
Stuttgart, Greenpeace inspected the containers in  
Beirut last November.   
  
"We are very happy to learn that authorities in  
Stuttgart confirmed the seriousness of the matter and  
demanded that the waste must be returned to  
Germany. This political decision from Stuttgart  
merits appraisal. Bonn must act now and state that it  
will finance the return of the 36 waste containers in  
Beirut Port," Hamdan said.  
  
Greenpeace appeals to Lebanese Foreign Minister  
Fares Boueiz to press the government to sign the  
Waste Trade Protocol of the Barcelona Convention  
that was signed in Izmir, Turkey, last year. It must  
also sign the 1995 Basel Ban amendment. These two  
accords would legally protect Lebanon against toxic  
and hazardous waste attacks.  
  
To deter Lebanese nationals from importing waste,  
the Greepeace Mediterranean Office recently handed  
Environment Minister Akram Shuhayeb documents  
to help him draft a national law banning the import of  
all sorts of waste - even under the guise of recycling.      
For more information please call the outpost of  
Greenpeace Mediterraneanin Beirut, ++961-3- 
756429 or ++961-1-785665; or toxic trade  
campaigner Andreas Bernstorff of Greenpeace  
Germany, ++49-172-4533770. emails:   
gp.med@cyberia.net.lb  
andreas.bernstorff@green2.greenpeace.org  
  
NOTES:  
1. The 36 containers were exported by the company  
"RC-GMBH Reifenrecycling". It is owned by Bernd  
Bretzing who was jailed under remand in Germany  
last August for illegal dumping of waste in Germany.  
Other involved businessmen are Lebanese national  
Freim Beinoh in Moscow and Mashor Ereiqat, the  
head of the company "International Trade and  
Finance" in the German city of Saulheim. Ereiqat is a  
German national of Jordanian descent.  
  
2. The first batch of 15 containers were sent via  
Belgium to Lebanon where they arrived on August 2,  
last year. The 21 others were shipped via The  
Netherlands and reached Beirut Port shortly  
afterwards on August 20. The shipment was officially  
declared as plastic raw material for industrial  
production. It was to be purchased and used by the  
Lebanese plastic company "George Freiha and Sons".  
But on August 8, 1996, this company refused the  
shipment when it opened the first the batch of  
containers at Beirut Port and realized that it was  
cheated.  
  
A Greenpeace legal expertise published last  
November proved that the shipment of the 36  
containers was an illegal operation according to  
German and European Union laws. It was also a  
fraudulent operation according to the 1994 Basel  
Convention because the shipping documents lied  
about the big bags in the containers and it took place  
without the consent of Lebanese authorities.  
 

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