Sweden's 'Queen of trash' jailed for waste dumping

A Swedish businesswoman who called herself the Queen of Trash has been sentenced to six years in prison in one of the country's biggest environmental crime cases.

Fariba Vancor, formerly known as Bella Nilsson, was convicted of 19 counts of "aggravated environmental crime" after her waste management company Think Pink illegally dumped toxic waste in locations across Sweden.

The former CEO is one of 10 people to be convicted of environmental crimes, including her ex-husband Thomas Nilsson.

Five of the accused were handed prison sentences ranging from two to six years and ordered to pay millions of pounds in damages to fund the massive clean-up operation.

Think Pink was reportedly responsible for dumping or burying some 200,000 tonnes of waste in central Sweden between 2015 and 2020.

It was hired by local authorities, construction companies and private individuals to dispose of everything from building materials, electronics, metals, plastics, wood, tyres and toys.

However, instead of legally disposing of the waste, Think Pink buried or dumped it on sites including agricultural properties, court documents say.

Prosecutors argued that Think Pink – which went bankrupt in 2020 when Vancor was arrested - had "no intention or ability to handle [the waste] in line with environmental legislation".

The waste was found to contain various substances harmful to both human health and the environment, such as arsenic, lead, and mercury.

In one incident, a Think Pink waste pile near a nature reserve burned for two months after spontaneously combusting.

A total of 11 people were charged in the case, with five convicted of serious charges and five of lesser charges. One person was acquitted - Leif-Ivan Karlsson, a TV personality who worked in a marketing role for Think Pink.

Several of the defendants have been banned from business activities for between five and ten years, according to the court documents.

All of the defendants denied wrongdoing. Throughout the trial, Vancor insisted that Think Pink had "followed the law", and any wrongdoing had occurred by mistake, AFP news agency reported.

Vancor's defence lawyer Jan Tibbling told Swedish news outlet SVT that his client would appeal the verdict.

"She believes she has done nothing wrong", he said.

Vancor's ex-husband Nilssen will also request that the verdict is reviewed, SVT reported. His lawyer previously argued that as chief executive before 2015, he was not in charge when the offences were committed.

The court document states that the five main defendents must pay "around a quarter billion kronor in damages to Botkyrka and Vasteras municipalities among others" for the clean-up, which involves clearing away mountains of dumped waste as well as decontaminating the sites.

The case has been described by Swedish media as the biggest environmental scandal in the country's recent history.

In 2018, prior to the criminal investigation into Think Pink's practices, Vancor reportedly won a prestigious award for her entrepreneurship.

However, according to SVT, prior to the investigation, the landfill sites managed by the company were increasingly criticised by those who lived nearby.

One couple, Eva and Willy Nowak, will be paid damages after a waste pile near their home in Botkyrka caught fire, exposing them to dangerous levels of lead, the public broadcaster reported.

"You shouldn't be able to throw rubbish in nature and make money from it," Mrs Nowak told SVT after the judgement was announced.

"Now they can sit and think about what they have done," she said.