Greenpeace Mediterranean statement on the shipment of Italian waste to Morocco
In response to the news of a shipment of Italian waste exported to Morocco. Greenpeace Mediterranean condemns this act and says “This type of trade is immoral and illegal under international laws. The Basel Convention and the Barcelona Convention (the Izmir protocol) prohibits the export of hazardous waste from OECD (developed countries) to non-OECD (developing countries). Shipping waste to be burned around the Mediterranean is environmentally destructive, it is not acceptable to export waste from Italy to Morocco for burning. Burning waste irrespective of their contents, toxic or not, will create toxic emissions. Greenpeace opposes the burning of all type of waste materials (hazardous, municipal, sludge, medical waste, or other). Incineration of waste contributes to the degradation of human health and the environment. Incineration must be avoided to prevent the dispersal of toxic and persistent poisons throughout the global environment.”
Greenpeace calls on Morocco to focus its efforts on treating its own waste problem and not import additional waste. This pilot announced for 5000 tonnes of waste should be halted and a sustainable development of the cement industry in Morocco should be thought through without the import of waste from around the world.
Greenpeace Italy sent on the 6th of July a letter to the italian minister of environment asking for clarified details about the waste shipment to Morocco. Until now, no official answer was received from the italian ministry.
For any question or media inquiries, please contact:
Dania Cherry, communications officer at Greenpeace Mediterranean Arab World
dania.cherry@greenpeace.org
Giuseppe Ungherese, Toxic Campaigner at Greenpeace Italy
giuseppe.ungherese@greenpeace.org
