A hired company began removing part of the waste from an illegal landfill site in Brno’s Horni Herspice district back to Germany today. The removal involved 35 tonnes of carbon dust loaded in bulk bags. Most of the waste, about 282 tonnes, will be left in Horni Herspice for the time being.
Representatives of the Czech Environmental Inspectorate (CIZP) are also on site, as an agency of the Environment Ministry.
Former Environment Minister Petr Hladik said last week that Czech police had concluded that all the waste in Horni Herspice came from the German company Roth International, as well as the material in Jirikov in the Bruntal district, from which the German authorities had already removed all the waste in the autumn. However, in the case of Horni Herspice, the German side had previously stated that they had doubts about the origin of the waste, and therefore did not plan to remove all of it for now.
The CIZP inspectors have completed their investigation into the matter, and are now waiting to see how the police investigation turns out, CIZP regional director Petr Musil said. In the event that there are no criminal proceedings, the matter would be dealt with by CIZP in misdemeanour proceedings, which carries a possible penalty of up to CZK 25 million, said Musil.
According to CIZP, more than 317 tonnes of plastics, laminates and other materials from the dismantling of aircraft or wind turbines were dumped in Brno-Horni Herspice. The waste was brought to the Czech Republic by Roth International trucks between June and October last year, with Piroplastik as the Czech recipient. Czech and German representatives will discuss the removal of the remaining 282 tonnes of waste at a meeting in January.
Roth International is based in the Bavarian town of Weiden, near the Czech border, and has a site in Wernberg-Koblitz. It specialises in the dismantling of aircraft and wind turbines. Hundreds of tonnes of illegally dumped waste from the company have been found in the Czech Republic. In the autumn, a company commissioned by the Upper Palatinate government removed illegal German waste from Jirikov, most of which ended up in an incinerator in Germany. The authorities intend to recover the costs from Roth International, which has been insolvent since March. German police have charged two people in connection with the illegal dumping in the Czech Republic.
