Waste management company Think Pink is accused of dumping at least 200,000 tonnes of rubbish.
Eleven people went on trial in Sweden on Tuesday accused of illegally dumping toxic waste.
The case has been described as “the largest environmental crime in Sweden in terms of scope and organisation” by one of the trial’s three prosecutors, Anders Gustafsson.
He told broadcaster SVT there were claims for damages of 260 million Swedish Krona (nearly €23 million), mainly from municipalities who were “forced to clear away the large mountains of rubbish”.
Gustafsson said the defendants also used falsified documents in order to mislead the authorities and make a lot of money.
Waste was dumped across Sweden
Among those on trial is Bella Nilsson (who has since changed her name), the former CEO of the defunct waste management firm Think Pink, who once dubbed herself the “Queen of Trash” and her ex-husband Thomas Nilsson.
The company has been accused of dumping or burying at least 200,000 tonnes of waste from the Stockholm area at 21 locations in 15 municipalities across Sweden with “no intention or ability to handle it in line with environmental legislation”.
Prosecutors have said they had to limit the case to just 21 locations because they ran out of time.
The police investigation runs to more than 45,000 pages with 150 witnesses due to testify during the trial. The waste allegedly dumped included items like building materials, electronics, metals, plastics, toys and tyres.
Prosecutors say high levels of arsenic, lead, dioxins, copper, zinc, petrol products and carcinogenic chemicals known as PCBs were released into the air, soil and water.
Several of the rubbish dumps also caught on fire. One of the biggest claims for damages comes from the Botkyrka council where two waste piles burned for months in 2020 and 2021.
The Nilssons face charges of serious environmental crime and serious economic crime linked to the company. The rest of the accused are facing a combination of different charges which include serious environmental crime, aiding and abetting serious environmental crime and environmental crime.
All 11 people have denied committing any crime.
Think Pink’s bags were a common sight on Stockholm’s streets
Bella Nilsson – who has since changed her name to Fariba Vancor – previously told Swedish media that the company acted in line with the law and that she was the victim of a plot by rival businesses.
“She has an explanation for all of this,” her lawyer Jan Tibbling told Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter on Monday.
Think Pink’s bright-coloured waste bags were once a common sight on the streets of Stockholm and it won a prestigious Swedish business prize twice.
The company was hired by a variety of clients including municipalities, construction companies, and private individuals to recycle building and demolition waste. It collapsed in 2020 when its owners were arrest.
The prosecutor is requesting a ten-year ban on owning a business for the three main defendants and two more involved, which is also contested by the defendants.
The trial is expected to continue until May 2025.
