Really, marijuana !?!

All aluminium companies work hard to establish a drug-free workplace which protect employees' health and safety. The Aluminium Plant Safety Blog recently ran across a story that made us shake our heads in disbelief. An aluminium company which has suffered through tough market conditions has decided to go into a new business venture. Wait till you read this story.

An aluminum company in Australia wants to burn cannabis, amphetamines and pharmaceutical drug waste to make up for the downturn in the global aluminium business.

The company has applied to vary the conditions of consent for its dross recycling facility so that it can conduct a two-year drug waste processing trial.

If approved, the 1000tonnes of pharmaceutical and 1000tonnes of illicit drug waste would be incinerated.

The company’s research shows there is only one other facility in the state in Australia that is suitable for the destruction of drug waste.  Quantities of the waste are increasing at a rate of about 3per cent a year.

The aluminium company managing director said the plant’s existing processing facilities were sufficient to handle the waste.

‘‘The equipment that we use is better than what is presently used to for this type of work,’’ he said. ‘‘It’s a rapidly expanding area that we are very interested in.’’

The company was also interested in destroying other forms of specialised waste, such as bank notes and corporate documents.

‘‘Basically we are trying to keep our workforce employed by offering a wider range of services,’’ The aluminium company managing director said.

In a letter of support for the project, Local Area Police Commander said illicit drugs been successfully destroyed at the plant in the past. He said police had worked closely with the aluminum company to develop standard operating procedures for the destruction of drugs.

‘‘This arrangement has provided the Local Area Command with a local facility to destroy drugs without the expense incurred of sending police outside the command to carry out this task,’’ Local Area Police Commander said.

A state police spokesman said drugs seized by the state Police Force were destroyed at authorised facilities throughout the state.

‘‘For security reasons, no specific information on the locations can be provided,’’ Local Area Police Commander said.  He declined to comment about the quantity seized each year.

The aluminum company will hold a community stakeholder meeting to discuss the proposed trial in the near future.

The Aluminium Plant Safety Blog acknowledges the tough market conditions that are still prevalent in some regions of the globe. One of the toughest regions to operate an aluminium company is in Australia for a myriad of reasons. Including but not limited to; government regulations, high labor cost, etc. Let alone the current LME contributes to all of the previous issues that have forced this aluminium company to make a decision that is unthinkable to many.

The goal for every aluminium company is to sell a finished product which price is not based solely on the LME. That is why you see more and more aluminium companies selling value added services to their products. It appears that this aluminium company’s products have little to zero value added services.

Now let’s consider the plant environment for moment. Most aluminium plants that the APSB have visited are designed for air movement to be free flowing. The furnaces in aluminium plants are not sealed to the extent needed when incinerating drugs. If the fumes escape either into the plant or out into the atmosphere one would wonder what the effect of nearby workers or citizens would be when exposed to this toxic smoke. The APSB would assume that the pollution controls currently installed in this aluminium company may not be the same controls needed when incinerating 100 tons of marijuana.

Lastly and most importantly is what will happened to the current workers at this aluminium company. Every plant should be 100% drug free. Nevertheless, EHS professionals are always on the lookout for any workers who deal drugs in our plants. It is these workers who prey on the weaknesses of others and make everyone less safe with their presence in our plants. This aluminium company will be bringing over 1000 tons of illegal drugs. The shear number will make it nearly impossible to keep track of all it. The pull of drug addiction is stronger than any threat this aluminium company can make to its employees about not stealing the incoming material.

Also, the shear volume of material  to be incinerated is staggering. The news article states that over 2000 tonnes would be incinerated per year. The APSB  is unaware of the weight restrictions in Australia. But assuming that load limits of 20 tonnes would result in over 100 trucks a year. That volume is staggering.  

Finally, the APSB acknowledges that this aluminium company felt it had no other alternative to keep from laying off employees but by coordinating with the local enforcement authorities to incinerate illegal drugs. Nevertheless, we still find this story simply crazy.