1. Skip to content
  2. Skip to main menu
  3. Skip to more DW sites
Live TV
Latest audioLatest videos
In focus
Israel-Hamas warUkraineExtreme weather

Dirty Business

June 15, 2022

In the 1980s, Swedish company Boliden shipped toxic waste to Chile. This had devastating consequences for the local population. In 2018, those affected sued to finally hold the company accountable.

https://p.dw.com/p/4CQUd
Chile Arica Giftmülldeponie der Firmen Boliden und Promel
Image: Rolf Svedberg
Filmstills I Dokumentation "Arica - Ein Giftmüll-Skandal"
Image: Lightdox

When mining company Boliden shipped its toxic waste from Sweden to Chile in 1984, there was an agreement that the waste would be properly processed. But a huge pile of it was dumped on the outskirts of the desert city of Arica. Years later, many locals developed cancer, and children were born with birth defects.

Filmstills I Dokumentation "Arica - Ein Giftmüll-Skandal"
Image: Lightdox

Lars Edman was born in Chile and grew up in the Swedish city of Skellefteå, where the mining company was founded. The film he codirected in 2009, "Toxic Playground", first brought attention to the disaster, leading to the lawsuit against Boliden nearly a decade later.
 

Filmstills I Dokumentation "Arica - Ein Giftmüll-Skandal"
Image: Lightdox


The lawsuit is the focus of this film, in which subjects from "Toxic Playground" reappear. They include Jocelyn, a young girl at the time of the first film, who later named her first child after the filmmakers.
 

Filmstills I Dokumentation "Arica - Ein Giftmüll-Skandal"
Image: Lightdox

Rolf Svedberg, who as the former head of Boliden's environmental department was partly responsible for shipping the toxic waste, also reappears. He had traveled to Arica with the filmmakers to face up to the consequences of his decision. During the trial, he finds himself in an awkward position. Boliden wants him to testify on behalf of the company, but he also appears in the plaintiffs' evidence, which includes excerpts from "Toxic Playground".


Broadcasting Hours: 

DW English

FRI 08.07.2022 – 01:15 UTC
FRI 08.07.2022 – 04:15 UTC
FRI 08.07.2022 – 18:15 UTC
SAT 09.07.2022 – 12:15 UTC
SAT 09.07.2022 – 15:15 UTC
SUN 10.07.2022 – 19:15 UTC
MON 11.07.2022 – 09:15 UTC

Lagos UTC +1 | Cape Town UTC +2 | Nairobi UTC +3
Delhi UTC +5,5 | Bangkok UTC +7 | Hong Kong UTC +8
London UTC +1 | Berlin UTC +2 | Moscow UTC +3
San Francisco UTC -7 | Edmonton UTC -6 | New York UTC -4

DW Deutsch+

MON 11.07.2022 – 09:15 UTC

Vancouver UTC -7 | New York UTC -4 | Sao Paulo UTC -3