Albania illegally exported thousands of tons of hazardous waste

At least 20 thousand tons of hazardous waste have been exported outside Albania since 2020 because the authorities failed, according to experts, to perform their monitoring role.

In August 2022, the Thai Ministry of Industry received a request from the Albanian government to allow the receipt of cargo with ash content from electric arc furnaces, EAFD, a by-product of the steel industry rich in heavy metals and classified as hazardous waste.

Thailand was a major importer of industrial and urban waste from developed countries, and yet, this time, the ministry said “Not”.

“EAFD has been a major problem for Thailand and the ministry did not want to make it worse,” told BIRN Sirakarn Leungsakul, director of the Industrial Waste Management Division at the Bangkok-based Ministry of Industry.

EAFD cross-border trade is regulated by Basel convention, an international agreement which ensures that these waste is treated properly to reduce the risk to people and the environment.

But the Ministry's refusal to demand Albania was not the end of history.

Almost two years later, on July 5, 2024, a ship loaded with 102 contenails filled with what is listed as Iron Oxide in customs documents was launched from the port of Durres with the destination of Thailand. Basel Action Network, an organization based in the United States Headquarters fighting against the export of hazardous waste from industrialized societies to developing countries, stated that the ship was actually transporting the EAFD.

The ship disappeared from the radars while traveling on the South African coast, often a sign of this turn off the ship's transponder. This was the moment Basel Action Network distributed the alarm. The ship was stopped in Singapore and instructed to return after to Durra, where prosecutors began while raising questions.

Based on information provided through requests for information rights, BIRN now managed to discover that between 2020 and 2023, an amount of about 20 thousand tons of hazardous waste generated by Turkish company chimneys “Kurum International” operating in Elbasan were exported outside Albania, in violation of national and international laws.

The waste was exported by the company “Sokolaj” sh.p.k on the ownership of Djovana Sokolajt; while the cargo was launched without the appropriate authorizations by the Albanian Ministry of Tourism and Environment as required by law. At least two of the cargoes have been completed in Thailand.

The company “Kurum” operates communist-era furrows to produce iron for the construction industry and is a major employer in Elbasan.

However, BIRN found that an inspection carried out in the Curum by the National Environmental Agency for hazardous waste, after the ship was stopped in Singapore, it was the first of its kind since 2020, despite the fact that Kurum is one of the largest generators of hazardous waste in the country.

Ornela Çuci, an environmental expert and formerzv. Environment Minister, said poor monitoring had allowed such waste traffic to pass unnoticed.

“Environmental permit law is one of the best in the Republic of Albania today,” told Çuci BIRN. “What happened is that we have abused its ” monitoring.

“Any subject that extracts waste abroad receives export permits. Any amount that appears must be reported to the Ministry of Tourism and Environment and AKM,” added Çuci. “Mathematics is simple; Do the quantities declared with the quantities of dala abroad coincide?”.

The company “Kurum International” told BIRN that it had transferred hazardous waste with zinc oxide content to “Sokolaj” after it was ensured that the exporter had a license for the transport of this product and the authorization of exports from the Ministry of Tourism and Environment. BIRN requested “Kurum” a copy of the authorization, but never received it.

“The entire quantity is traded with a fiscal invoice, but has not been accompanied by waste transfer documentation,” said “Kurum” through a spokesman, referring to a mandatory transfer document that enables tracking of loads. The spokesman said the Kurum had regularly reported these remains to the National Environment Agency.

Neither the Minister of Tourism and the Environment, Mirela Kumbaro nor the director of the National Environment Agency, Dollar gold did not respond to requests for comment.

Supervision ‘failed’

The Durr Prosecutor's Office has not yet said what exactly there was inside the ship's contenders that returned from Singapore.

“Kurum International” operates parts of the former Metallurgical nation built during the communist regime in Elbasan since 1998. In 2010, the company installed filters to capture the ash of electric arc ovens, EAFD, but again produces an average of 8 thousand tons per year if it works full capacity.

Despite the production of such hazardous waste, the inspection for the implementation of the environmental permit carried out in September 2024 was the first since 2020.

“Kurum” transferred its own waste to the company “Sokolaj” during 2020-2023, the two companies signed a contract only in August 2023.

The Regional Environmental Agency for Beratin, Elbasan and Korça said the Kurum failed to make available to the Agency the transfer documents of these waste. The agency imposed a fine and suspended hazardous waste transfers.

At the National Business Center, the company “Sokolaj” based on the outskirts of Durres describes its activity as import and export of non-hazardous waste, such as zinc or copper.

The National Environment Agency found in August 2024 that between December 2020 and November 2023, Sokolaj had purchased from the 2,800 ton of iron oxide waste as well as 20 thousand tons of EAFD classified as hazardous waste with code 10 02 07*. The whole amount was exported abroad while before the inspection.

Inspectors concluded that these exports had been carried out in violation of the law as long as Sokolaj did not have waste transfer documents from the Curum and had no export authorization from the Ministry of Tourism and the Environment.

Dritan Metaj, director of the Regional Environmental Agency for Beratin, Elbasan and Korça told BIRN that he had conducted sporadic monitoring at the company “Kurum” when he had “indicie and denocations”.

“I have not proposed an approved monitoring plan or by the AKM I am not authorized by a work plan,” said Metaj.

Experts told BIRN that according to the environmental permit of type A, which the Curum disposes of, the National Environmental Agency should monitor compliance with the permit and regularly review the data that the permit holder submits to the Agency and to the national waste transfer register.

“Any company that has a permit for the export of hazardous waste has the obligation to report periodically”, said Polycron Horeshka, waste management expert. “However, it is oversight that in this case that has failed ”.

Destination Thailand

Thailand first appeared as a destination for plastic waste from rich countries such as the United States and Japan, before opening the doors for EAFD as well. In 2023, however, in response to the environmental alarm, Thailand called for a ban on the import of hazardous waste, before also banning the import of plastic waste earlier this year.

Just like Albania, Thailand also has a poor record of corruption and environmental protection.

The amount of 2,800 tons of waste labeled as iron oxide that the company “Sokolaj” tried to export in July last year was supposed to end up in a recycling plant called Copper Metal, built in a green area of Lopburi province in Thailand. Copper Metal is registered as an industrial waste recycler, but not for the treatment of EAFD.

After the cargo was blocked, the Ministry of Industry in Thailand ordered an inspection at Copper Metal, in which the director of the Industrial Waste Management Division, Leungsakul said it was found that the ventilation system and zinc recycling machinery did not work properly.

Environmental Organization “Ecological Alert and Recovery – Thailand”, known as EARTH, also sent its representatives, who took dust samples distributed around the factory to study them. Samples are still being analyzed.

EARTH director Penchom Saetang said corruption facilitates waste trafficking in Thailand and those involved escape due to light sentences.

“The main cause of this problem in Thailand is ‘corruption’ or ‘bribery’, both by the authorities and by the private sector,” said Saetang.“Although the maximum sentence for this offense is 10 years in prison, virtually offenders are fined only a minimum amount and no one has been imprisoned yet,” he added.

New request for export of waste

“Kurum” meanwhile still seeks to export hazardous waste.

The Ministry of Tourism and Environment is currently assessing an authorization request for the export of 8 thousand tons of hazardous waste from “Kurum” to Saudi Arabia, submitted on 25 July 2024.

In the request, the waste is described as containing “solid waste from gas treatments containing hazardous substances or powder residues from arc electric ovens (PFEH) with Zinc Oxide content in the Çelik Uzzin ”. The quoted waste code is 10 02 07*.

“Kurum” says he signed a contract with the company Global Steel Dust Gulf – Saudi branch of a company established in Switzerland for the treatment of 8 thousand tons of hazardous waste per year.

In September 2024, at the company's premises “Kurum” had a condition of 3,724 tons of hazardous waste packaged in 4600 bigbags, but “Kurum” said the request for export authorization was made on the premise that it could produce 8 thousand tons per year if it works with full capacity. Operations of “Kurum” are currently suspended due to the remont.

The Ministry of Tourism and Environment said it had initially rejected the request, but was now considering the possibility of approval after Kurum had submitted additional documents.

“After completing the documentation by the subject, the application is in the process of reviewing,” said the Ministry in response by email.

Jim Puckett, Basel Action Network's executive director said Albania should be extremely careful.

“Factories in Saudi Arabia do not treat waste according to the standards required by the Basel Convention and Arabia is not a signatory party,” said Puckett for BIRN.