An estimated 2,100 total metric tonnes of suspected hazardous waste packed in 102 containers are expected to be returned to their country of origin, Albania, on October 27th, 2024, via the Italian port of Gioia Tauro after having sailed all the way to Singapore on their intended pathway to Thailand. The scheduled return may mark the end of months of dramatic intrigue after the international watchdog group, Basel Action Network (BAN), following a tip from a whistleblower, alerted Albania, several transit countries, and the intended destination country of Thailand about the massive shipment of what they believe is toxic steel furnace dust collected from pollution control filters in Albania. Following the warning, the government of Thailand refused the import, and BAN then received assurances from the shipping lines involved -- Maersk and the Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) that they would ensure the safe return of the containers to their original port of discharge -- Durres harbor in Albania.

In a second letter to the government, BAN is once again calling on Albania to transparently sample and test the suspected hazardous waste and to share a split sample with BAN. BAN is prepared to arrive in Durres to participate in observing and obtaining a split sample upon the vessel’s arrival on October 27th.

“We are calling on Albania to break the container seals in full public view and in the presence of independent groups such as BAN, followed by the taking of split samples that can be analyzed at different labs in parallel," said BAN’s Executive Director, Jim Puckett. “Only open, transparent sampling and testing of the contents will provide the public with confidence in the results and nature of these shipments sent to Thailand and the harm they may have caused both sitting in the dock in Durres and if they had reached their intended destination in Thailand."

Currently, all the containers have been set aside at the small port of Asyaport, Turkey awaiting the arrival of the Turkish container vessel BURAK BAYRAKTAR which is expected to move the 102 containers in question via Gioia Tauro, Italy, back to Durres. The containers in question were transported in July from Albania to Trieste, Italy, where they were loaded onto two Maersk chartered ships. As the two ships sailed towards Southeast Asia, BAN and its partners sounded the alarm and raced against the clock to have the ships detained by transit countries and refused by Thailand. En route, both ships went “dark” on parts of their journey by deactivating their AIS GPS transponders for periods far longer than what shipping experts have noted is normal, which may have been illegal. Maersk finally agreed to return the containers to Durres, after they arrived in Singapore.

Under the Basel Convention, the UN treaty that governs the trade in hazardous and other wastes, the transport of hazardous wastes without the approval of the exporting country (Albania), the transit countries, or the scheduled importing country (Thailand) is illegal waste trafficking. Albania was never informed about the export by the exporter, the transit states were not informed, and Thailand also never received any notification.

BAN is calling on the Albanian government to undertake the following protocol:

1.   Set a time/date for the sampling and publicize the event in advance so that the press, NGOs, international observers, government officials, and any other interested parties can attend. BAN proposes the morning of Monday, the 28th.

2.   BAN is prepared to be present to receive a sample and observe the opening of the containers.

3.   Upon arrival make sure all containers are accounted for and that the container seals have not been broken. Set them in one area of the port.

4.   At the sampling event, allow observers a clear view of three containers that have not yet had their seals broken. Three containers allow for a more representative sampling of the shipment.

5.   When the seals are broken and the doors of three containers opened, a sample should be visibly gathered by a trained specialist from each of the three containers and placed into one clean glass container. The three samples should be mixed thoroughly with a clean glass rod.

6.   Next, the samples should be split evenly into three parts with one mixed sample going to the Albanian Ministry of Environment and Tourism, another to a pre-decided independent third party located in another country, and one to BAN.

7.   The government should then send its sample to a lab of its choice, the independent third party should send its sample to a lab of their choice, and BAN will send it to a lab of its choice.

8.   The results of each shall be made public on the letterhead of the labs involved.

9.   If any of the three samples show that the materials within the containers are hazardous, then from that point on they must be managed as hazardous waste.

10. If safe, legitimate recycling that properly manages the residues cannot be found, then they should be deposited in an engineered landfill designed for such hazardous waste.

The materials should first be properly placed into leak-proof containment designed for hazardous waste shipment before proceeding to recycling operations or landfill.

"It is important that this matter is not swept under the carpet," said Puckett. "We are concerned about the improper handling of this waste in the port of Durres, in the past, presently and in future. How did such waste get stored without protection in the port and find itself on ships to Thailand and China without proper notice to any countries? It appears there have been clear violations of the Basel Convention and likely harm both to Albanians and unsuspected countries around the world. A full investigation and waste management strategy for these kinds of wastes is needed immediately."