By Lisa Macdonald
On September 1, visiting environmentalists Ravi Agarwal from the Indian non-government organisation Srishti and Von Hernandez, Greenpeace's south-east Asia toxics campaigner based in the Philippines, launched a campaign to highlight the impact that Australia's toxic waste has on their countries.
For companies in the wealthy First World, it is cheaper to circumvent environmental regulations and higher disposal costs at home by shipping hazardous wastes to the Third World for disposal. The results are enormous health and environmental problems in those countries least able to deal with them.
Australia is one of the largest exporters of zinc and lead ash to India. A report released by Greenpeace in the Philippines on August 22 reveals that Australia is also one of the top three countries (after Singapore and Saudi Arabia) exporting drained and undrained lead acid batteries to the Philippines.
"A loophole in the Filipino law allows waste traders to dramatically increase the volume of scrap battery imports", Hernandez said. In the last five years some 38 tonnes a day has entered the Philippines. In 1995, Australia alone dumped 5611 tonnes of the batteries on that country.
According to the report, this toxic waste is dumped in areas where adults and children, without protection, strip it to scavenge the lead to sell. But even where reclamation of the waste is "controlled", there are massive problems.
Philippine Recyclers Inc is the Philippines' largest importer of used car batteries. Investigations in the area surrounding PRI's plant in Marilao, just north of Manila, found massive lead contamination of the soil, river sediment and vegetation, with lead levels in the recycler's effluent 1900 times more than the allowable level in waterways in Australia.
Lead levels in the soil were 26,000 parts per million (compared to a typical 140 ppm in soil adjacent to lead smelters in Europe), and levels of up to 51 ppm were also found in string bean leaves in a field adjacent to the plant.
Lead poisoning is associated with neuro-psychological and metabolic disorders and is particularly dangerous for children. Filipino plant workers and local residents have complained of an increase in health problems, including nausea, burning eyes, sore throats and respiratory problems.
Greenpeace and other organisations are demanding an immediate ban on the export of hazardous waste from OECD to non-OECD countries.