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- <text id=93TT1165>
- <title>
- Mar. 15, 1993: Return to Sender
- </title>
- <history>
- TIME--The Weekly Newsmagazine--1993
- Mar. 15, 1993 In the Name of God
- </history>
- <article>
- <source>Time Magazine</source>
- <hdr>
- THE WEEK, Page 18
- WORLD
- Return to Sender
- </hdr>
- <body>
- <p>Romania says no to a German present of toxic waste
- </p>
- <p> When it comes to getting rid of life's unwanted gifts,
- fruitcakes and Father's Day ties are best fed to the dog,
- accidentally lost or--a method favored by many Americans--simply passed along to friends. None of these options sufficed,
- however, when 420 tons of German pesticides were "given" to
- Romania by a waste-disposal contractor who said the cargo was
- part of an aid package. In fact, the toxic mess was dumped in
- the Romanian town of Sibiu. Embarrassed, the German government
- will begin shipping the chemicals back this week.
- </p>
- <p> Romania is hardly the only beneficiary of such German
- largesse. Thousands of tons of waste have been dumped, legally
- and illegally, in Asia, Africa and Eastern Europe. While Bonn
- has spent more than $1 billion cleaning up industrial toxins
- bequeathed by the former G.D.R., stringent recycling laws have
- built up a mountain of ordinary refuse that is difficult and
- expensive to dispose of at home. As a result, Germany has
- become the world's leading exporter of trash.
- </p>
-
- </body>
- </article>
- </text>
-
-