Volume 6, No. 6, June 2005

Few years back the news of Pepsi Cola Company exporting plastic wastes from the United States to India sent a shock wave to many Indians including admirers and fans of the Cola drink "Yehi Hai Right Choice Baby!" Subsequently, it was revealed that only in 1993-’94 Pepsico has exported 23 shipments of used plastic bottles weighing 4500 tons to Futura Industries, a Company in Tiruvellore, Tamil Nadu in the name of recycling. It is a well known fact that the PET bottles used by the Cola giants are not fit for recycling and more than 50% of the consignment was of such non-recyclable containers which amounts to more than 2000 tons of plastic waste, which was dumped in India in one year only.

The recipient company is doubly blessed. It gets huge amounts of money from the US counterpart vis a vis sales of unhygienic, used bottles in the Indian market.

The law of waste disposal is stringent in ‘Gods Own Countries’— USA and Europe. It is a costly affair also. In the USA, in 1980 the cost of waste disposal was $.15 per ton which grew to $250 per ton in 1989 and further to $600 per ton in 2001. The consumerist life style of the US and European citizens produce huge amounts of waste products which they cannot detoxify or handle. The gravity of the problem can be judged by the information that even NASA has undertaken a project to dump the waste products in space! But is it not much cheaper and wise to export the hazardous toxic materials to Asia and Africa in the name of business and economic growth? That is exactly what the imperialists are doing. The poor third world countries have become their trash bins.

In Los Angeles of USA, the Cola giants (Coke and Pepsi) made a joint venture company (a perfect example of corporate cooperation!) named Plastic Recycling Corporation of California (PRCC) which channels these used bottles to Asia and earns millions of dollars.

The brunt of the burden of pollution rising out of the utterly extravagant lifestyle of the western world is being transferred to the shoulders of our poor countrymen! The multinational and transnational companies, with the help of the collaborators from within, are polluting, looting, molesting, raping and destroying our environment day in and day out. Our forests are virtually gone, the 7000 km coastline is fast becoming a toxic soup and its aquifers so poisoned with industrial and agricultural contaminants that much of the portable water could actually be treated as poison.

More than half of the flood irrigated soils of Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh have begun to go fallow, thanks to the uncontrolled application of water, pesticides, herbicides, weedicides and fertilizers in the name of green revolution. Rampant lifting of ground water, deforestation and soil erosion vis-a-vis silting of the main river beds are slowly turning the once rice bowl into a salty, barren stretch of land. Out of 329 million hectare cultivable land 175 million hectares (55%) is polluted. Each year 1.5 million hectares of forest land is being denuded. Acid rain has occurred in some parts of the country. The air in cities is unbreathable and drinking water is contaminated with fecal matter. As a result, summer and monsoons are punctuated by recurrent out breaks of communicable water borne diseases leading to epidemics. Even human breast milk in parts of Punjab is so contaminated by D.D.T that if it were to be bottled, the health department would be compelled to confiscate the stock.

Apart from the criminal desecration of our natural resources which has seriously affected the very survival of nearly 4 crores of fisher folk, 6 crore of forest dependent people and over 15 crores of marginal farmers our nation has been the safe heaven of dumping plastic, PVC, metallic scrap (copper, iron and lead), used computer parts, ash and residue wastes and even cowdung and pig droppings (under the fashionable name of enviro dung).

The imperialists, like the United States, UK, Germany and Australia, have chosen to cold bloodedly poison India’s coastal water, lakes, aquifers, rivers, soil and people.

The plastic industry has been facing growing unpopularity in the US as consumers’ awareness about the harmful sale of plastic packaging in the waste problem and in the large environmental problem has increased. So much so that the industry has felt the need to lauch a multi-million dollar campaign in the USA to convince people about the re cyclability and harmlessness of plastic.

As already stated, the Pepsi Cola Company (which has shifted from clear, safe, reusable glass bottles to disposable plastic to make more money) is spreading the myth of recycling of PET (Polyethylene Tetraphthalate) bottles. Millions of used plastic bottles are exported to Asia. Some of them are reprocessed, some burned and some simply dumped. Exporting of plastic, relocating the production process itself to an underdeveloped country and spreading myths about recycling are easy ways of getting rid of problematic waste cheaply while making consumers at home feel good about using plastic.

In its new strategy, the Pepsi Cola Company along with Indian Oil Chemical Limited (IOCL) has set up a Rs. 75 crore project to manufacture PET bottles in Chennai. The capacity of the factory is 20,000 tpa of polyester chips and 3500 tons of PET bottles. These bottles are exported to the USA and Europe and returned back to India. Since plastic damages the environment both during production and during disposal, India is doubly cursed by this. This is a classic example of a toxic industry being shifted to a less industrialized country to avoid strict environmental and labor laws at home and, of course, to avoid investing in clear production in the first place.

As already stated, Future Industries in Tiruvellore, Tamil Nadu acts as the local crony of the Cola giant. This company has imported more than 25,000 tons of plastic which are grossly contaminated, filthy and beyond the scope of recycling. The work is done by casual workers with a meager payment of Rs. 20/- per day and they are exposed to all types of toxic assaults on their health.

Plastic contains highly toxic chemicals like Benzene and Vinyl chloride known to cause cancer. There are also gaseous and liquid hydrocarbons which pollute air and water. Plastic resins are highly inflammable.

Chemicals emitted during its production are very toxic e.g. Ethylene Oxide, Benzene, Xylene etc. These cause immense damage to the nervous system, kidneys, blood, immune system and child birth.

Plastic in not bio degradable. Incineration leads to release of Dioxin— the most toxic substance science has ever known.

50 micro gram (1000th. the part of a gram) of dioxin can kill 50,000 mice.

On the other hand recycling of plastic bottles is highly uneconomical, dirty and labor intensive. It is associated with skin and respiratory problems due to contact with toxic fumes. Let us put a simple question. If recycling is safe why it has been relocated in the poor countries?

Chlorine is another highly toxic gas released by the plastic and PCV industry. It causes cancer of colon and urinary bladder. It is deposited in body fat and causes infertility, hormonal disturbances and nervous disorders.

These can come in a large variety of forms, from very low grade ashes and residues to relatively high grade pieces of waste metals. Metal processing wastes are generated by smelting of iron, steel, copper, zinc, lead and aluminum. Smelting wastes often contain highly toxic concentrations of arsenic, lead, cadmium and cobalt. Arsenic oxide, lead and Cadmium are carcinogenic. They interfere in the nervous, reproductive and digestive systems and also hamper plant growth.

The metal scraps remain in the environment for a very long time. Lead is a very stable metal and is very toxic to plant, animal and human body, resulting in pernicious anemia, recurrent gastro-intestinal upsets, peripheral neuropathy, dermatitis, renal failure and infertility. It is confirmed carcinogen. Even small amounts of lead lowers intelligence level in children, resulting in reading disorders, psychological disturbances and mental retardation.

Very often the toxic metal scraps, ash and residues have a life span that is much larger than the containers and dumpsites built to hold them. These wastes in such cases, corrodes or seeps through and emerges either through food chains from the soil to plant and vegetation taken in by man and animal (polluting meat & dairy products), through ground water to reservoirs and drinking water systems and even through air.

India, along with the Philippines, Hongkong, Indonesia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Malayasia are the global destination of waste products.

Chlorine, plastic and lead smelting industries have shut down in the western world due to public protest. These monstrous industries have shifted to Asia.

NASA along with 6 other giant companies (like Boeing, Gen Vinamix, Lockheed etc) has set up Conduct and Commercial Space Transport Study (CSTS) the aim of which is to dump wastes in the moon. Presently $3 million is being spent for research on this.

Through the 1980s Africa was regarded as the easy dumping ground for all hazardous wastes— industrial, pharmaceutical, radioactive along with banned pesticides and toxic incinerator ash, against cash. But in 1991 (29th January) the Bamako Convention of all the African slates adopted on Africa wide ban on waste import.

The Nigerian coast was the dustbin of Italy. It is shown than in 1990, 98% of the 40 crore tons of toxic wastes came from 40 industrialized nations which are grouped together as the Organ for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)— actually a mantle for the imperialists. The main objective was to transport these hazardous materials to ‘non OECD’ poor countries. Of the OECD countries, the main waste exporters were US, UK, Australia, Canada, Germany, Japan, Netherlands and Austria who got furious by the Bamako Ban, threatened the participating nations with ‘dire’ consequences, withdraw at of funds and tried to split the unity by hectic lobbying, bribing and brow-beating behind the screen.

In spite of the pressure of these imperialists by 1993, a total of 101 countries from Africa, Latin America Caribbean islands and Pacific islands singed the historical ‘Basel Ban’ manifesto imposing a blanket ban on Trans boundary Movement of Hazardous waste and their disposal. Since then, the toxic wastes in the form of thousands of tons of plastic, lead scrap, & computer waste found their new destination in Asia, particularly south east Asia.

During 1992, 15% of the wastes from USA sailed to India. The amount jumped to 83% in 1993.

From January to July, 1993 the waste dumping increased by 97.3% in India, 125% in Pakistan and 37% in Bangladesh. This dumping appreciably fell in African countries.

All of the worlds’ motor vehicles contain lead batteries which the rich countries consume at an alarming rate. USA, UK and Australia are the main sources of such huge amount of used lead batteries to Asia, particularly India. The sulfuric acid mixes up with water bodies and lead ash contaminates the air. The used lead battery waste is mainly imported from Australia through Mumbai and Kolkata ports exposing our population to the risk of heavy metal poisoning. Our people are serving a death sentence for the heinous crime committed by the imperialists and their agents within the country.

l Ferrous waste (from iron & steel foundry)

l Copper and copper alloy wastes

l Tin plate wastes

l Zinc and aluminum wastes

l Arsenic oxide and cadmium wastes

As if this is not enough, India is the favored destination for used computer parts. More than 5 million computers are scrapped every year and the US is already exporting thousands of tons of such ‘techno junk’ to India, China and the Philippines. Workers usually strip the cables for copper wire and the remaining wastes are either burned or stockpiled. Burning of computer key boards produces brominated dioxins which has already been mentioned considering the rapid depreciation of computer hard wares and rapid turnover the computer wastes already pose a serious problem.

The RSS-Sangh Parivar may be happy to know that we are also planning to import cow dung (along with pig droppings) from Netherlands, in the name of bio fertilizer. Actually this dung causes environmental disaster.

In the attractive package of nature friendly fertilizer, we are getting excreta from animals fed on fodder heavily impregnated with chemicals. Since Netherlands is bellow sea level, there is chance of contamination of sea water by seepage of animal dropping. Hence, Holland wants to export it even free of cost. A shipload of such chemically impregnated toxic organic residues were sent to countries of Latin America causing a great uproar and public outcry.

Since then India has been targeted even though it has a large livestock (almost 200 million) population. An Indian Company EID Parry, in collaboration with a Dutch company Seaswan B. V. planned to import 6 million tons dung every year from Holland to Kandla port. Due to huge farmers’ protests the project has temporarily been suspended but it may resurface any day banking on the liberal import policy of the government which is actually a running dog of the imperialists.

The extremely hazardous ship wrecking industry has been transferred to India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Myanmar. Ship dismantling is banned in the USA and Europe as during destruction it emits huge amount of toxic products. Moreover enormous human cost is involved in the form of loss of lives of workers and health hazards to the people of the port area.

Almost 20 years back, a gigantic yard and dry dock was founded at Alang, on the Bhavnagar Coast, by the Gujrat Maritime Board (GMB) which dismantles ship at an insignificant cost. Frequent accidents, injuries and explosions kill the contractual casual laborers off and on. Moreover highly toxic materials like Poly Chlorinated Biphenyl (PCB) and asbestos wastes contaminates air, water and soil to persist in the food chain for decades. The project has a workforce of 40,000 (who earn Rs. 40 to 50 only for a 12 hours a day) and the annual turnover is Rs. 2000 crores. GMB has hired 183 plots to lodge 200 discarded ships at a time and the whole project is stretched over a 10 km. patch on Bhavnagar Coast.

Almost 2000 workers suffer injuries every year. Skin diseases, pneumonia, asthma are rampant due to burning huge amount of solid wastes like broken pipes, asbestos, foam, rubber sheets, glass wools etc.

Alang is a hell on earth with 5 lack people. This ship breaking industry serves the purpose of the US Navy and commercial liners. It is also a golden goose for the Government in the form of sales tax, customs duty & central exercise. It is a fortune for compradors who earn from the shipping companies on the one hand and also gets cheap steel scraps (3.2 million tons in 2000-2001)on the other.

India is a signatory to the declaration banning the import of toxic wastes. Still then, most of the anti-pollution rhetoric on the part of the government is only to dupe the people.

The government is reluctant to take any tough stand, that may make its imperialist masters happy. Environment and peoples’ health is not an issue for them. Even after 20 years of the Bhopal gas leak, which left almost 30,000 dead and 6 lacs diseased, no justice has been meted towards the victims. Only 1.07 lacs affected person have received Rs. 20,000 to Rs. 50,000/- only— an excuse for a compensation. Several times the government tried to withdraw cases against the culprits and has agreed in an out of court settlement for a meager compensation for the offending company. In this backdrop, we cannot expect this comprador administration to stand up against the imperialist plot of allowing our people to live a healthy life. We must unite, must be vigilant and must force them to scrap such a heinous blue print of poisoning our land and people.

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