Dumping of German waste has become an almost daily occurence in many Czech regions, due largely to its much lower cost than legal disposal in Germany.

More than 15,000 tonnes of German waste, the equivalent of about 625 lorry loads, have been detected in the Czech Republic over the last few weeks according to Czech authorities, who do not exclude the discovery of new illegal depots.

Until now, Slovakia has only been faced with one case, when last November a local company illegally imported and dumped around 1,300 tonnes of waste originating in Germany and transported via Austria.

The Czech-Slovak cooperation was agreed after a working meeting this week in Bratislava. Last month, the Czech Environment Inspectorate (CIZP) decided to step up its checks throughout the country faced with the flood of German waste.

Czech environment minister, Libor Ambrozek, has also contacted his German counterpart to call for his help. Prague also counts on taking up the issue at a European Union level although the discontinuation of border customs checks following EU entry is one of the factors that have facilitated the cross border dumping.

Related Links
-