page_title: Copșa Mică works
section_title: Carbosin
hierarchical_section_title: Copșa Mică works / The factories / Carbosin
caption_attribution_description: English: Carbosin plant, Copşa Mică, Romania, May 1996; derelict since 1993
context_page_description: The Copșa Mică works were two factories in the Transylvanian town of Copșa Mică, Sibiu County, Romania. Sometra, established in 1939, produced non-ferrous metals, particularly zinc and lead, through smelting; production has been suspended since 2009. Carbosin, dating to 1935, specialized in carbon black, and shut down in 1993. The two were the town's principal employers, but combined, they made it among the most polluted places in Eastern Europe. Soot from Carbosin encased Copșa Mică in a black covering, while metals from Sometra suffused the air, water and soil, leading to serious health effects on surrounding residents, vegetation and wildlife.
context_section_description: Carbosin was founded in 1935, mainly for producing carbon black from methane gas. The government of Czechoslovakia invested in the enterprise in order to develop its defense capabilities, ordering munitions and arms for its infantry. In 1939, following the German occupation, the 20% interest of Československá zbrojovka was taken over by the Nazi regime, contributing to the crippling of Romania's efforts to maintain an army outside German control.
  From 1950 to 1970, new units for producing carbon black were set up, as well as for formic and oxalic acid and methyl methacrylate. The company's products were the chief raw materials for various objects made of rubber (tires, transmission belts, conveyor belts, protective clothes and shoes), but were also used in the chemical, pharmaceutical, agricultural and other industries. The output of various types of carbon black amounted to 24,400 tons in 1989 (63,000 tons had been projected), a number that steadily decreased until 1993, when the factory was shut down following lengthy negotiations. Black dust pollution affected a strip of land over 20 km in length and 5–6 km in width, although work was later done to clean this up.
caption: Abandoned Carbosin, 1996
exif: {}