A 'tsunami'of old TVs is being exported and illegally dumped in Africa and Asia every year with the help of organised criminal gangs, according to an investigation by the Scottish Government’s environmental watchdog.
“The Basel Convention, which all of the European Union has ratified, requires authorities to treat illegal traffic in waste as a criminal offence. Unless the perpetrators are given jail sentences they will simply pay the fines from past or future profits and start up business again under a different name.”
Recent changes like the switch from analogue to digital displays and flat screens had created a “tsunami of old TVs and computer monitors flooding ports in Asia, Ghana and Nigeria.” There they are often recycled in primitive and environmentally damaging conditions or simply dumped or burned if there is no market for it.
The Basel Action Network has set up a certification system for recycling companies which refuse to export electronic waste to developing countries. Known as “e-Stewards”, it certified its first UK company, in Surrey, last week.
Read the story at following link. Exposed: Scotland’s toxic waste is poisoning Africa and Asia - Herald Scotland News Transport & Environment
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