Environment Agency starts analysing Brazil waste

The environmental regulator has already fumigated the containers, which arrived at the Port of Felixstowe in Suffolk between August 21 and 25, and will now attempt to verify claims made by the Brazilian authorities that material such as clinical and hazardous waste was illegally shipped to South America in the containers, marked ‘mixed plastic'.

The Agency said it expected further containers – believed to number around 20 – to arrive and be fumigated later this month.

The 81 containers already in possession of the Environment Agency were subjected to a fumigation process upon arriving in Suffolk using the chemical phosphine to eradicate any pests that may have entered the shipment.

An Environment Agency spokesman said: “The containers have been moved to a secure facility where they have now been fumigated. Environment Agency investigations officers have begun analysing the contents and will gather any evidence.”

“This will take a number of weeks, due to the number of containers involved. Once this has been completed, we will ensure the waste is safely dealt with by our appointed contractor,” he added.

Containers

The 81 containers represent the bulk of those believed to have been shipped illegally to Brazil between February and May of this year. The containers were discovered at three Brazilian ports in June when Brazilian authorities claimed they contained a range of hazardous materials (see letsrecycle.com story).

Due to the UK being named as the supposed port of origin, Brazilian authorities and the Environment Agency arranged for the material to be shipped from the port of Santos to Felixstowe by the Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) (see letsrecycle.com story).

A spokeswoman for the Environment Agency told letsrecycle.com: “The next step will be going there and seeing what is in there and we have got the information from the Brazilian authorities and we have to gather our own here. It may be that with a couple of containers that the plastic has not been very well sorted but on the other hand it may involve clinical waste.”

“We can [now] start sifting through it to see if the [Brazilian] reports are accurate and, in the worst case scenario, it will be stuff for incineration but because the criminal investigation is currently ongoing they need to document it for the prosecution case,” she added.

Three Swindon-based men had been arrested by Wiltshire police in connection with the export of the waste (see letsrecycle.com story). However, the Environment Agency said that they have since been released on bail until October.

The Environment Agency said it was unable to comment further about companies potentially involved in the case. The spokeswoman said: “The main important thing is for us is if we need to get a water-tight case and we are not going to say anything that might perhaps jeopardise that.”

The Environment Agency claimed that journalists were unable to attend the opening of the containers due to fears over exposure to potentially harmful material and the fact that it was treating the shipment as an “active crime scene”.