Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
user. be. considered. e-waste?. The. fact. that. it. is. to. be. reused. means. that. it.
has.not.yet.reached.its.end.of.life..There.should.be.speciic.guidelines.dic-
tating. when. an. item. should.be.considered. e-waste.. The.question. is.should.
“end-of-life”.be.deined.from.the.point.of.view.of.the.original.user.or.based.
on.the.actual.end-of-life.of.the.EEE?
Closing the Loopholes
The.Basel.Convention.contains.a.legal.loophole.in.that.the.export.of.whole.
products. is. permitted. to. other. countries. as. long. as. they. are. not. meant. for.
recycling.. Therefore,. in. essence,. there. is. no. transboundary. movement. of.
waste
,. and. dishonest. brokers. could. make. use. of. this. loophole.. A. consider-
able.amount.of.waste.is.now.being.exported—not.as.waste,.but.as.reusable.
.equipment—some. under. the. guise. of. reusable. EEE,. but. which. cannot. be.
repaired.without.expert.technological.knowledge,.and.this.has.emerged.as.
a. point. of. concern. on. a. global. scale.. It. is. dificult. to. trace. whether. “reus-
able”.items.in.transit.will.actually.be.reused.overseas..The.export.of.reusable.
equipment.is.outside.the.control.of.the.Basel.Convention.
The. U.S.. “E-waste”. Bill. (H.R.. 2595). introduced. in. May. 2009. at. the. 11th.
Congress. will. open. the. gateway. for. the. export. of. toxic. waste. to. continue.
because. although. it. bans. the. export. of. listed. “restricted. electronic. waste”.
to.non-OECD.countries.for.recycling,.the.bill.allows.for.the.export.of.used.
electronic. equipment. for. refurbishment. and. subsequent. reuse. (govTrack.
us. 2009).. Unscrupulous. recyclers. could. take. advantage. of. this. loophole. by.
sending.damaged.and.outdated.equipment.for.recycling..To.close.this.legal.
loophole,. only. the. export. of. commodities. (crushed. glass,. shredded. plastic,.
aggregated. metal). that. could. be. used. as. raw. materials. for. other. products.
should.be.permitted.
In.June.2011,.Bill.H.R..2284.was.introduced.to.prohibit.the.export.of.certain.
e-waste.from.the.United.States.to.developing.nations..It.allows.for.the.export.
of.tested.and.fully.functional.and.usable.electronic.goods.to.promote.reuse,.
if. consent. is. received. from. the. importing. country. (GovTrack.us. 2011).. This.
bill. is. expected. to. create. employment. in. the. recycling. and. refurbishment.
industry.in.the.United.States.
Global and National Cooperation
A.holistic.approach.consisting.of.systematic.governance.and.detailed.guide-
lines.on.a.nation-wide.basis.is.needed.to.successfully.address.the.e-waste.
issue.. The. illegal. import. of. e-waste. must. be. restricted. by. eradicating. all.
possible. regulatory. loopholes.. E-waste. is. a. global. challenge;. therefore,.
international. cooperation. is. very. much. necessary. to. tackle. transbound-
ary.movement.of.e-waste..As.stated.in.Article.10.of.the.Basel.Convention,.
parties. to. the. convention. should. cooperate. with. each. other. to. improve.
and. achieve. environmentally. sound. management. of. hazardous. wastes.
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