18/07/2005 - Dealers and
exporters of used electronic equipment will
have to comply with tough new criteria to
prevent the unauthorised export of hazardous
electronic waste (e-waste), the Minister for
the Environment and Heritage Senator Ian Campbell
announced today.
Special inspectors would ensure the criteria
were applied.
Australia has been exporting used electronic
equipment worth about $20 million a year in
increasingly large volumes to China, India
and other Asian countries for scrap metal
recovery or refurbishment and then resale.
Senator Campbell said there was increasing
concern that such exports may breach legal
obligations under the ‘Basel Convention’,
which required signatories to ensure that
hazardous wastes were not exported unless
they could be managed safely in the importing
country. If the convention was breached, recipient
countries could demand this waste be returned
to exporting countries.
"I am concerned with the large and increasing
volume of used electronic equipment sent to
countries where we know there’s a considerable
cottage industry involved in recycling e-waste,"
he said.
"These operations, in trying to recover
copper and precious metals from the equipment,
can cause severe pollution to their waterways
and air, as well as exposing workers, including
children, to harmful heavy metals and other
toxins.
"Over the past 18 months my department
has been working with representatives of the
IT industry, including Original Equipment
Manufacturers (OEMs), IT lease companies,
recyclers and exporters to develop an acceptable
set of clear criteria for defining hazardous
e-waste." Senator Campbell said the faster
turnover of equipment and high consumer demand
presented a serious environmental challenge.
"The result is the e-waste pile growing
globally by millions of tonnes every year
with too many countries allowing their e-waste
to be exported to vulnerable countries,"
he said.
"We’re all used to having computers
and televisions at home and work and think
little of throwing them away if they become
old or broken. Unfortunately these items can
contain some substances that are harmful to
health and the environment, so disposal or
recycling of them must be done safely."
The Basel Convention is implemented by the
Hazardous Waste (Regulation of Exports and
Imports) Act 1989. Exports and imports of
used electronic/electrical equipment can only
occur if a permit has been issued under the
Act, or assessed using the guidelines as not
being a hazardous waste.
