23 May, 2001: New Convention To Ban Toxic Chemicals Marks Turning Point For Dirty Industry

Greenpeace welcomed the birth of the Stockholm Convention to eliminate persistent organic pollutants (POPs), signed by over 90 governments in Sweden today. The new global treaty marks a turning point for industry and for environmental policy as it acknowledges, for the first time, that releases of toxic chemicals cannot be controlled but their sources must be eliminated in order to protect public health and the environment.

"This Convention offers a genuine opportunity for governments to rid the world of these toxic poisons. But the scale of the POPs crisis must not be underestimated. Cases of POPs related diseases such as cancers, endocrine disruption and endometriosis will continue to increase unless governments act on the commitments made today and stop all industrial sources of these and all other insidious poisons immediately," said Greenpeace political advisor, Kevin Stairs.

Greenpeace is taking ongoing direct actions against POPs sources around the world this week. The actions serve to stress which industrial practices are required to go if the Stockholm Convention is to be implemented effectively. To eliminate POPs, waste incineration must be banned and all industries must stop using chlorine as part of their production or manufacturing processes.

Full press release

Global actions:

May 25

Sweden: Success - Polluting Cement Kiln takes first steps to clean up its act

At 3.00pm today in Gotland, Sweden managers of the 'Cementa' cement kiln, conceded to our demands. The company agreed to year's moratorium on burning hazardous waste and to stop importing it from abroad. It also agreed to send imported mixed waste back to Norway and the Netherlands after Greenpeace discovered it was burning it illegally.

More on the victory in Sweden after 11 days of actions

May 22 - 24, UK: Greenpeace volunteers end incinerator occupation

Eleven Greenpeace volunteers today ended their occupation of Sheffield incinerator after successfully protecting the people of the city from polluting gases for three days.

The volunteers occupying the plant maintain that they acted lawfully but have agreed to comply with an injunction from Leeds High Court. Mark Strutt, one of five volunteers camped on top of the incinerator chimney, said: "We have successfully stopped this incinerator from polluting Sheffield for three days and received a great deal of support from people who live and work in the shadow of this toxic plant. As far as we are concerned our occupation was lawful."

"Sheffield incinerator has broken pollution laws 178 times in the last three years and discharges hundreds of tonnes of poisonous gases every year. We are sad that Sheffield Council has wasted money going to the courts rather than spending money on giving this city a modern clean recycling plant."

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May 22 Actions:

Argentina

Buenos Aires - Greenpeace urged the government of Argentina to phase out waste incineration in the country during an action at a incinerator in the capital where emissions of hazardous toxins regularly exceed levels recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO). Greenpeace exposed the company Tri Eco SA, owned by the French group Suez, for being responsible of the release of dioxins and heavy metals that damage the environment and human health.

Chile

Activists protested in Santiago to demand that the government promptly implements measures to eliminate POPs in Chile. The banner depicts a human foetus which is especially vunerable to the effects of POPs.








Japan

In Tokyo activists took action against an incinerator to highlight the toxic emissions from incinerators. Japan has the highest density of incinerators anywhere in the world. Incineration is a large source of the super toxin dioxin and other hazardous pollutants. Japanese financial institutions are funding the expansion of incineration in other Asian countries such as Thailand. See the protests against one such institution in Bangkok below.

The Netherlands

Activists in the Netherlands took action against a dioxin hotspot resulting from the production of PVC plastic. PVC production is also inflicting serious dioxin contamination on other countries. High dioxin levels have been found in the blood of communities living near PVC industries in Mossville, Louisiana and the Venice Lagoon is highly contaminated with dioxins from PVC production. PVC is thought to have the highest dioxin formation risk of any single material.

May 21:

Czech Republic

Greenpeace activists from Czech Republic and Slovakia blocked the main gate to PVC packaging producer Technoplast Chropyne in Moravia region. The goal of the action was to draw attention to the incinerator within the factory compound which emits up to 150 times more dangerous dioxins than the valid limit in EU.



Turkey

Greenpeace activists prevented waste from entering the Izaydas Clinical and Hazardous Waste Incinerator today, by blocking the entrance to the plant.

Greenpeace climbers then scaled the incinerator’s 55m high smokestack, and unfurled a banner with the message “STOP”. The activists blocked the entrance to the Izaydas plant with a 6.5m long container, painted with a clear message reading “BAN THE BURN”.

Activists locked themselves inside whilst another two activists handcuffed themselves to the container. Three activists climbed onto the roof holding signs reading “Down to Zero” and carrying poison logos. The four climbers on the smokestack, including Toxics campaigner Banu Dokmecibasi, stated that they will remain there until the international treaty is signed by Turkish Environment Minister, Fevzi Aytekin.



Greenpeace is also demanding that the Turkish Ministry make a clear statement acknowledging the health and environmental hazards of incineration and committing to the elimination of sources of Persistent Organic Pollutants (Pops).



Thailand

This morning our climbers hung a banner on the Japan Bank for International Cooperation which is funding the expansion of incineration in Thailand. The banner read: "JAPAN: Dioxin Pusher, Stop Incineration." Outside the bank entrance Greenpeace volunteers and community activists protested with placards urging the bank to "Stop Exporting Dirty Technology."

The three climbers were arrested by police after the banner action.
Background info:
Report on the banks funding for Incinerators
Open letter to the governor of the bank


Lebanon

The Clinical Waste Incinerator at one of Lebanon’s leading hospitals in Beirut, the Hotel-Dieu de France (HDF), was prevented from operating today, when Greenpeace activists blocked the entrance. The Greenpeace action is part of global campaign organised to coincide with the international meeting in Stockholm, where governments from around the world are signing a treaty to eliminate the world's most dangerous chemicals.

Greenpeace activists blocked the gates to the incinerator and chained themselves to the doors. Another group of activists on the roof of the incinerator held a banner reading "Medical Waste IN = Toxic Waste OUT" and another one with the message "BAN the BURN" in Arabic.

“We are here to draw attention to the fact that action is needed as a matter of urgency in order to prevent such cancer factories from causing further hazards to the people and to the environment. We are being exposed to doses of these chemicals through the air we breathe, the water we drink and the food we eat. The sector responsible for safeguarding our health is ironically one of the contributors to the chemical disease that is affecting us all,” said Zeina al-Hajj, Greenpeace Mediterranean Toxic campaigner in Lebanon.


Full Background on the UN Meeting

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21 May 2001: Greenpeace Takes Global Action Against Sources of Toxic Poisons and Urges Governments to do the Same. Our activists started a series of direct actions today against industries around the world that are still releasing toxic poisons called persistent organic pollutants (POPs) into the environment. Full Press release

The actions began as over 120 governments convened in Stockholm to formally adopt and sign the first legally binding, global treaty to eliminate POPs because of the unacceptable environmental damage they cause and the danger they pose to human health.

At 6.00am this morning, Greenpeace activists in the Lebanon and Turkey blocked clinical and hazardous waste incinerators that are releasing cancer causing dioxins and other Pops In Thailand, about 100 local people and Greenpeace activists demonstrated outside the headquarters of the Japan Bank for International Cooperation and demanded that it stops funding and exporting incinerators to South East Asia. Activists also stepped up their six day protest at the polluting cement kiln in Sweden.