Obsolete pesticides removed from Karelia

Packing of obsolete pesticides in Petrozavodsk, Russia. Photograph: Nina Mäntylä/Ekokem Oy

The final stage in addressing one of the environmental hot spots in Russian Karelia was taken this week. Approximately 12 tonnes of obsolete pesticides were transported from Petrozavodsk in Russia to Ekokem in Finland for adequate and environmentally safe elimination. The pesticides will be destroyed at Ekokem’s thermal destruction facility in high temperatures in accordance with the Basel Convention.

The obsolete pesticides were collected from 23 different warehouses in Karelia and repacked for transportation from Petrozavodsk to Finland. This project was defined in 2003 as one of 42 so called environmental hot spots in a report published by NEFCO and the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme. A substantial part of the pesticides in this project are highly toxic and bioaccumulative substances defined as persistant organic pollutants (POPs) in the Stockholm Convention. The project has been co-financed by Russian authorities and the Finnish ministry of Environment.

Background information (In English)

Read more (In Finnish)

Barents Hot Spots Facility

The Arctic Council


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