Former Waste‑Company Boss Accepts Jail Term in Illegal Cross‑Border Trash Case

Overview

• The trial that began Thursday in Weiden saw the 53‑year‑old former manager plead guilty and agree to a sentencing range that could include up to three and a half years in prison.
• As part of the deal he must pay 100,000 euros to the state and his 57‑year‑old Czech business partner is set to receive a suspended sentence under the same agreement.
• Prosecutors had accused the men of 39 counts of illegal export of non‑hazardous waste and two counts involving hazardous waste while other counts, including dangerous bodily injury and running an unpermitted plant, were left out of the deal because of weak evidence.
• Bavarian authorities recovered about 600 tonnes of waste from the Czech Republic and spent roughly 600,000 euros to transport and dispose of materials that included glass‑ and carbon‑fibre reinforced plastics and parts of lithium‑ion batteries.
• Investigators have summoned about 40 witnesses and experts to the case, and the early agreement could shorten the hearings while leaving open cross‑border follow‑up work and questions about worker exposure to nickel, cobalt and manganese.