Founding 2012
The waste management company Think Pink was founded in 2012 by the then-married couple Bella and Thomas Nilsson. The company grows rapidly and achieves great success during the latter part of the 2010s.
At its peak in 2019, Think Pink generates 129 million kronor in revenue and makes a profit of 9 million kronor. CEO Bella Nilsson, who calls herself "Queen of trash", takes out a dividend of 13 million kronor the same year.
Landfill Fires
In 2019, two fires break out at a landfill outside Västerås where Think Pink had left waste. The waste, which was supposed to be a maximum of 10,000 tons, turns out to be nearly four times that amount and is so old that it can hardly be sorted. The municipality bans the company from transporting more waste there.
The following year, a fire spreads at Think Pink's facility in Kagghamra, Botkyrka, where large quantities of poorly sorted waste have been dumped. Parents several miles away keep their children indoors when the toxic smoke becomes too thick to stay outside. In 2021, there is also a fire at the facility in Kassmyra, Botkyrka.
The Task Force Strikes
In the fall of 2020, the police strike and arrest three people connected to Think Pink, including Bella and Thomas Nilsson, suspected of gross environmental crimes. Shortly thereafter, the company goes bankrupt. All three are released on bail after a period in custody, but the investigation continues.
Charges are Filed
In December 2023, charges are filed against a total of eleven people in what is described as the largest investigation of its kind in Sweden. The prosecutors claim that Think Pink had a system of taking payment for handling waste and then dumping it illegally.
There are enormous amounts of money to be made for the unscrupulous actor, says prosecutor Linda Schön.
According to the charges, hundreds of thousands of tons of unsorted construction and demolition waste were transported, then buried in the ground, wrapped in plastic, and used as fill material.
The illegal dumping allegedly took place in 15 different municipalities in central Sweden: Botkyrka, Eskilstuna, Flen, Gullspång, Haninge, Huddinge, Håbo, Laxå, Norberg, Norrtälje, Skövde, Strängnäs, Uppsala, Västerås, and Östhammar.
Five of the individuals are charged with gross environmental crimes, one is charged with aiding and abetting, and the remaining five are charged with environmental crimes of a normal degree. Among those charged are Bella Nilsson, Thomas Nilsson, and TV profile Leif-Ivan Karlsson, who was CEO of the company for a period. All eleven deny the charges.
Verdict in the Summer of 2025
The trial is planned to last for 91 court days, until May 2025. If the schedule is kept, a verdict can be expected in June.
