Trafigura is a Dutch multinational commodity trading company and it mainly trades base metals and energy, including oil. In 2006, the company dumped plenty of toxic waste on the Ivory Coast in Africa and it not 
only destroyed the local environment and ecosystem, but also caused a heath crisis affecting more than 100,000 people. After knowing that the price of transporting the waste to Netherlands was much higher than the company’s anticipation, Trafigura ordered a ship to dock the waste until they could find a proper place to dump it. But later on, the waste was handed over to a newly formed dumping company and it illegally dumped the waste. Evidence had shown that Trafigura was aware of the dumping and thus the company was guilty of releasing toxic waste.
Looking back from what Trafigura did, there is an urgent need for other businesses to learn from this incident. Businesses should not try to maximize their profits at all costs. More importantly, they should learn to be socially responsibleand environmentally friendly.
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