Export-Import case study
Australia is not a big player in the waste trade, but a good percentage of its exports are shipped all the way to Europe. In 2000 Australia reported the export of 16 689 tonnes of waste (all classified as hazardous) to New Zealand, Belgium, Great Britain, France and Austria. More than half the waste consisted of used lead acid batteries, which were moved across the Tasman Sea to New Zealand. Most of the rest of the waste (described as lead dross) was exported to Belgium. During that same period Australia imported 1600 tonnes of waste from New Zealand, Norway, French Antarctic and South Africa. This included mostly copper and lead compounds from New Zealand, selenium from Norway and household waste from the French Antarctic base.

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In 2000 Germany reported sending 317 528 tonnes of waste to 14 countries. All countries appeared to receive a broad combination of hazardous waste apart from China, which received nearly 50 tonnes of household waste. During 2000 Germany was amongst the top importers, bringing in over 1 million tonnes of waste from 38 countries. Most of the waste came from the Netherlands, Italy Luxemburg and Belgium and contained a combination of waste streams.

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