Nestlé Waters on trial in France over illegal waste dumps

Nestlé Waters on trial in France over illegal waste dumps Keystone-SDA

Bottled water producer Nestlé Waters will stand trial in France before the Nancy Correctional Court in May, accused of illegally dumping waste and maintaining unauthorised dumps, AFP has learned from the AC Anti-Corruption association.

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Nestlé is being prosecuted for allegedly “illegally abandoned” between 2021 and 2024 waste in the form of “water bottles, glass, polymers” for a total volume of 346,000 cubic metres at Contrexeville (equivalent to the volume of 92 Olympic swimming pools) and 27,000 cubic meteres at Saint-Ouen-Lès-Parey (equivalent to seven Olympic swimming pools), each time constituting “an unauthorised dumping ground causing substantial environmental degradation”, notes the court in its notice of hearing consulted by AFP.

The company is also accused of having kept landfills in Contrexeville, They-sous-Monfort and Saint-Ouen-Lès-Parey (Vosges), with volumes of 250,000, 100,100 and 27,000 cubic metres respectively (equivalent to 65, 25 and seven Olympic swimming pools).

The maintenance of these “plastic, glass and demolition waste” dumps caused “serious harm to human health” and “substantial degradation of the environment”.

Nestlé is also being prosecuted for having, around these landfills, “allowed microplastic particles” to flow into surface and groundwater at concentrations “rendering all aquatic life impossible and having harmful effects on health, flora and fauna through their toxicity”.

Finally, in Crainvilliers (Vosges), Nestlé is accused of having illegally abandoned waste and kept a landfill with a total volume of 600 cubic meters of “carcasses, bulky items, plastic and glass bottles and plastic caps”.

Nestlé Waters does not comment

In a statement sent to the AWP press agency, a spokeswoman for the subsidiary of the French-speaking group assured us that “we have not received a summons to date, and cannot comment further on an ongoing procedure.”

She pointed out that “an investigation is underway into the environmental aspects of the former waste disposal sites, which date back to the 1960s, before Nestlé Waters became the owner of the Vosges site.

Nestlé Waters France has undertaken to take all necessary steps, under the supervision of the environmental authorities, with regard to the management of these former waste disposal sites”.

She added that “today, the majority of sites have already been cleaned up by Nestlé Waters and we are awaiting feedback from the environmental authorities to specify the best management option for the remaining sites. No waste dumping has been carried out by Nestlé Waters between 2021 and 2024.”

Complaint against X

The AC Anti-Corruption association had filed a complaint against X with the regional environmental unit of the Nancy public prosecutor’s office after the existence of these dumps was revealed by journalists Alexander Abdelilah and Robert Schmidt of the We Report collective.

“AC Anti-Corruption is very pleased that its complaint to the public prosecutor’s office has been successful. We’ve been waiting for this result for over three years with our lawyer, Vincent Poudampa,” the association’s president, Marcel Claude, told AFP, praising the work of the “many journalists” who have investigated these dumps.

The trial will take place from May 26 to 28 at the Nancy criminal court.

Nestlé Waters is also the subject of complaints from the Foodwatch and CVLC associations in the case of contaminated bottled water purified using prohibited techniques.

Translated from French by DeepL/mga

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