More robust enforcement of laws designed to tackle the growing problem of e-waste is urgently needed, says Anja ffrench of Computer Aid, along with improved management of electrical waste by governments
Every year, thousands of containers of e-waste make their way from the UK to dumping grounds in Africa, China and India, despite import bans and the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive.
Sham traders are pretending to be legitimate reuse and recycling organisations and enticing unsuspecting businesses and local authorities to use them for the disposal of their electrical equipment. At the ports, these traders falsely claim their consignments consist of reusable equipment destined for productive reuse in developing countries, when in fact the contents of their shipments consist of extremely hazardous e-waste.
This toxic trade is driven by the motive of profit, but the actual cost is borne by the environment and the people who disassemble the equipment. Electronics contain a wealth of valuable resources, including gold, silver and platinum as well as many hazardous substances, such as mercury, lead and arsenic. Since electronic waste is toxic, it must be treated extremely carefully when recovering the valuable resources within, so as to avoid significant health and environmental damage.
In the UK we have had the WEEE legislation in place since 2007. The Environment Agency, who are responsible for policing the directive, have been taking some steps to prosecute companies found to be in breach of the legislation. However, they do not do anywhere near enough, as was again brought to our attention in the recent shocking reports by BBC Panorama and the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) who tracked shipments of our UK e-waste to developing countries. The fact that this is still happening highlights gaps in existing in the legislation and its enforcement that desperately need to be filled.
At Computer Aid we believe that there are solutions to the problem of e-waste. We believe it is essential that those countries with existing laws and regulations for e-waste properly enforce them. This will most likely involve stronger penalties for e-waste criminals and more resources for enforcement authorities. Additionally, all governments need to develop systems for the safe and effective management of e-waste that are backed by legislation and based on producer responsibility. This will enable all countries to develop and maintain the capacity to manage e-waste safely over the long term.
Read Computer Aid’s recommendations for governments to put an end to the global e-waste problem.
Source: TheEcologist.org
By Anja ffrench