Hong Kong government accused of failing to uphold international law over import of electronic waste
United States watchdog hits out at Environmental Protection Department after finding that 37 e-waste items were being processed in Hong Kong
A US watchdog has slammed Hong Kong’s Environmental Protection Department (EPD) for failing to uphold international law following its two-year investigation tracking the illegal import of electronic waste into the city.
Hong Kong has replaced mainland China to become “ground zero” for exporters of hazardous e-waste, according to Basel Action Network (BAN), whose research using GPS trackers revealed how 37 of the 65 electronics items exported from the US ended up in junkyards in the New Territories.
Only eight were detected on the mainland, in what BAN describes as a significant geographical shift over the last decade. Previously, electronic waste would pass through Hong Kong to be processed in scrapyards in Guangdong and beyond.
“While we must first and foremost blame the US government for continuing to export toxic wastes around the world, we can no longer stay silent on what we see as the Hong Kong government’s negligence at the receiving end,” BAN executive director Jim Puckett said.
“As early as 2006 I personally asked the EPD why they did not arrest and prosecute the obvious smugglers in the New Territories, and they simply told me it was ‘difficult.’ Actually, it should not be difficult, and more importantly, it is their duty and obligation under international law.”
