January 17, 2025: Customs chiefs at the Dutch port of Rotterdam say they have intercepted a shipment of 825,000kg of used lead batteries on route to India.

The Dutch Transport and Environment Inspectorate said on January 14 it was called in to investigate after a total of 33 containers had been intercepted containing what was described as hazardous old and discarded lead batteries.

According to the agency, the origin of the batteries was Puerto Rico and Jamaica. The cargo was heading for processing in India — possibly in the unregulated sector. 

There was no appropriate permit and the cargo was incorrectly labelled as comprising non-hazardous plastic waste and metal residues.

Agency officials said they had never encountered smuggling of hazardous waste on such a scale.

An agency spokesperson said: “Consider the potential injuries caused by corrosive acid in the event of incorrect or unsafe processing or recycling, or contamination of the soil and groundwater. It was also questionable whether processing in India would take place in a responsible manner.”

The containers will remain in Rotterdam for the time being before, according to international law, being returned to the countries of origin.

The agency said it is working with authorities in Jamaica and the US to “find appropriate and safe solutions”.