16 Romania-bound illegal waste transports detected at border

Romanian authorities have managed to halt at the border 16 transports of illegal waste coming from Germany, Austria and Hungary that were scheduled to reach several commercial agents in Romania, Minister of Environment Cristiana Pasca-Palmer said.

According to Minister Palmer, the transports were identified between June 17-24. “It is a good achievement for the authorities, because we managed to stop the 16 transports, coming not from Italy, but from Germany, Austria and Hungary. Most of them from Germany. It was a surprise for us. There were 16 transports, almost 300 tons of illegal waste that were attempted to be introduced in the country, under the ‘green waste’ code, waste that can be exploitable, but in fact, thanks to a good collaboration that we requested with the National Environment Guard and border authorities, the transports were halted, checked, and it was seen that, in fact, those pellets were not what they were supposed to be on paper,” Palmer told Digi FM.

The Minister said the transports were supposed to reach several economic operators, however she refused to name them. According to the minister, they were supposed to reach several areas in the country, mainly in the south-east. Out of the total, 40 percent of them were only meant for a single operator. “We have sent the Guard there, for a check, it was proven that there are illegalities and there was already a ‘pattern’ to act that way and I requested a criminal investigation,” the official stated.

According to Palmer, the transport was part of a large-scale, illegal operation with many ramifications in Europe involving dangerous waste. “The Romanian laws allow for waste to be imported, but strictly that waste that can be exploited, meaning recycled. However, here, under the pretext that the waste can be exploited, in fact waste that were supposed to be sent to the landfill was being imported,” Palmer explained.

Georgeta Gheorghe