POPs IN AFRICA HAZARDOUS WASTE TRADE 1980 - 2000 ... - Arte

against waste trade. 149
Scheme: Metaleurope Weser Zink GmbH
Date: since 1987
Type of Waste: residues containing copper, arsenic and cadmium
Quantity: 1.000 t/Y
Country of Origin: Germany
Generator: electrolytic zinc process
Exporter/Broker: Metaleurope Weser Zink GmbH
Recipient/Destination: Tsumeb TCL, Namibia
Pretext/Fate: recovering
Status: unclear
The company “Weser Zink”, Nordenham is owned by the French
“Metaleurope S.A”. Since 1987 around 1,000 tonnes each year of
a so-called “copper-concentrate” or “copper-cement” has been
shipped to the copper-smelter TCL in Tsumeb in northern
Namibia. The “copper-cement” was generated by the process of
producing electrolytic zinc and it also contains copper, arsenic
and cadmium. These heavy metals (copper, arsenic, cadmium)
were being recovered in the Namibian copper-smelter. Experts
say 1,000 tonnes of copper cement contain 80 tonnes arsenic and
it is unknown how much can be recovered and how much will be
released into the environment.
In 1995 the company “Gold Fields Namibia Ltd.”, who run the
TCL-smelter, asked the Namibian Government to create a legal
basis to import the copper cement from Germany. According to
German trade statistics, the copper cement was being shipped to
Namibia until October 1994. The statistics do not say whether the
shipments stopped before May 1994 or not. 150
Scheme: Boedecker
Date: 1992
Type of Waste: Toxic Waste
Source: European countries
Exporter:
Pretext/Fate: Dumping
Status: Unclear
Mr. Horst Boedecker, a Windhoek businessman, claimed in June
1990 that during informal discussions with Namibian
government officials, suggestions to import waste were not
rejected. Boedecker claims he had made an offer of 5 million
tonnes of toxic waste for disposal in Namibia, with a further 45
million tonnes in the pipeline. The responsible official in the
National Assembly, A Toivo ya Toivo, was expected to make a
statement on the government´s position later. Greenpeace is not
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Namibia Information Service; Chicago Defender, January 20, 1990; Greenpeace, USA; Greenpeace West Germany.
150
“Vereinbarung mit Deutschland unterzeichnet,” Sigrid Nielssen,Tempo, 5th June 1994;
Letter from Tsumeb Corporation Limited to Oekopol, Hamburg,14th June 1995;
Earthlife Afrika.
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