Overview
Overview
Social Initiatives
Social Initiatives
Pakistan
Help in disposing of problem waste
The barrels in a government store in northwest Pakistan had languished unnoticed for more than 20 years, their content and purpose long forgotten. The alarm sounded once the barrels, which contained around 60 metric tons of product, started to leak. Pakistan called on the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) [German Society for Technical Cooperation] for help, and they turned to Bayer. Some of the barrels contained Gusathion®, one of our insecticides.
This pesticide (active ingredient azinphos methyl) has a broad spectrum of action and is still a vital weapon in controlling many biting and sucking insects. Until 1997 it was used in Pakistan mainly to protect cotton fields and fruit plantations. The Pakistan government had bought the 60 tons of product more than 20 years ago, and had by mistake sent it to the government store in the northwest of the country. As the farmers in this region do not grow either cotton or fruit, it remained unused. When the barrels started to leak, experts from the GTZ and Bayer's Crop Protection Business Group visited the site to assess the situation and work out an appropriate method of disposal, since the product was no longer usable. But no solution could be found in Pakistan or the rest of Asia. The entire batch therefore had to be packed up safely in line with international legislation and carefully shipped to Europe, where it was destroyed in a suitable high-temperature incinerator without damaging the environment. We volunteered to share the cost of this disposal process.
This pesticide (active ingredient azinphos methyl) has a broad spectrum of action and is still a vital weapon in controlling many biting and sucking insects. Until 1997 it was used in Pakistan mainly to protect cotton fields and fruit plantations. The Pakistan government had bought the 60 tons of product more than 20 years ago, and had by mistake sent it to the government store in the northwest of the country. As the farmers in this region do not grow either cotton or fruit, it remained unused. When the barrels started to leak, experts from the GTZ and Bayer's Crop Protection Business Group visited the site to assess the situation and work out an appropriate method of disposal, since the product was no longer usable. But no solution could be found in Pakistan or the rest of Asia. The entire batch therefore had to be packed up safely in line with international legislation and carefully shipped to Europe, where it was destroyed in a suitable high-temperature incinerator without damaging the environment. We volunteered to share the cost of this disposal process.
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