Dutch Port Officials estimate that 16 percent of all trash exports out of its port in Rotterdam is illegal trash smuggling.

Source: Elizabeth Rosenthal, “Smuggling Europe’s Waste to Poorer Countries,” New York Times, September 26, 2009.

According to an article in the New York Times, it is 4 times more expensive to incinerate trash in the Netherlands than to ship it illegally to China for dumping.

Source: Elizabeth Rosenthal, “Smuggling Europe’s Waste to Poorer Countries,” New York Times, September 26, 2009.

The cost to a European company to properly dispose of toxic waste can cost around $1,000 per ton.

The cost to illegally dump toxic waste through an organization such as the Mafia costs about $2.50 a ton.

Source: George Monblot, “From toxic waste to toxic assets, the same people always get dumped on,” Guardian, September 21, 2009.

7 Billion Euros ($9.9 Billion) worth of toxic waste is smuggled each year by members of Italian Mafia clans.

The 7 Billion Euros in trash value is higher than the 6 Billion Euro value in 2008.

Source:  “Italy: Toxic waste traffic ‘worth 7 billion euros a year’,” Adnkronos, August 11, 2009.
2008 Figure: Robin Pomeroy, “Naples garbage is mafia gold,” Reuters, January 9, 2008.

13.1 million tons of toxic waste was smuggled out of Italy by the Italian Mafia in 2003.

Source:  Sophie Arie, “Italy’s Mafia banks on trash,” Christian Science Monitor, August 5, 2004.

Slate Magazine explains why the Mafia is involved in trash smuggling.

It’s Mob Economics 101: Find a business that’s easy to enter and lucrative to control. Criminal organizations make lots of money from drugs, human trafficking, and counterfeit goods, but creating a monopoly on garbage collection is attractive because the business itself is legal, and public contracts return big profits. Compared with something like running a casino or grocery store, the logistics of taking trash from Point A to Point B are a no-brainer. Anyone with a truck and a couple of strong guys can make good money, and there’s always a demand for the service.

According to the United States Government, trash smugglers who illegally dump trash and other hazardous materials earn $10 to $12 billion.

Source: United States International Crime Threat Assessment, “Environmental Crimes,” December 15, 2000, available at Federation of American Scientists, (last accessed: January 30, 2006).

A 2005 report by the European Network for the Implementation and Enforcement of Environmental Law (IMPEL) found that ” international trade in waste is rapidly increasing.”

The report mentions the financial profit involved in trash smuggling creates a ” strong incentive for those in the waste chain to avoid controls over the movement and treatment of waste. Financially, there are strong incentives for waste producers, brokers, carriers and others, to exploit any opportunity to avoid these controls.”

Source: “IMPEL-TFS THREAT ASSESSMENT PROJECT: THE ILLEGAL SHIPMENT OF WASTE AMONG IMPEL MEMBER STATES: Project Report,” April 2006, (accessed: January 9, 2007).

In the European Union, an enforcement operation found 48 percent of waste shipments were illegal.

Source: United Nations Environment Programme, “Basel Conference Addresses Electronic Waste Challenge,” Press Release, November 27, 2006, (accessed: January 9, 2007).

49 cases of hazardous waste smuggling containing 8,000 tons of solid waste were uncovered by Chinese Custom officials in 2006.

Source: Xinhua, “China customs uncover waste smuggling cases,” China Daily, January 31, 2007, (accessed: February 1, 2007).