An Amsterdam appeals court has fined multinational energy giant Trafigura one million euros for illegally transporting toxic waste from Amsterdam to Ivory Coast.

In 2006, the Amsterdam-based company loaded the Probo Koala with the toxic waste and dumped it in and near the Ivorian capital Abidjan. The waste is thought to have injured thousands of people there. Two other defendants, the Amsterdam city council and waste disposal company APS, were acquitted. The court found that Trafigura had not informed APS that the waste was toxic. In 2006, APS began to process the waste but stopped doing so when it discovered that the waste contained substances that would make the processing much more expensive.

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