Queen of garbage: businesswoman is on trial for tons of illegally dumped waste (2 photos + 1 video)
Prosecutors said the waste was mishandled and released harmful, cancer-causing chemicals, lead, arsenic and mercury into the air, soil and water. 
Sweden has begun the trial of self-proclaimed "garbage queen" Bella Nilsson, who is accused of illegally dumping mountains of waste in the country's largest environmental crime case ever.
The businesswoman is one of 11 people charged with aggravated environmental crime. She was the chief executive of waste management company NMT Think Pink, which is accused of dumping or burying 200,000 tonnes of waste at 21 locations between 2015 and 2020.
Lawyers for Nilsson, now named Fariba Vankor, and another former CEO, Leif-Ivan Karlsson, say they deny any wrongdoing. She refused to answer questions from reporters as she walked into Attunda District Court north of Stockholm.
Prosecutors said the waste had been mishandled, releasing harmful, carcinogenic chemicals, lead, arsenic and mercury into the air, soil and water. 
In one case, a Think Pink waste pile located next to a nature reserve burned for two months after spontaneously igniting.
Nilsson previously told Swedish media that her company had acted in accordance with the law. Prosecutors noted that NMT Think Pink, which went bankrupt in 2020 when the entrepreneur was arrested, failed to manage its waste in accordance with environmental laws. They said the way the waste was dumped at the sites endangered the health of people, animals and flora.
