ASIAN GOVERNMENTS LAUNCH ACTION TO TACKLE ‘E-WASTES’

ASIAN GOVERNMENTS LAUNCH ACTION TO TACKLE ‘E-WASTES’

TIANJIN (China), 21 November (UN Information Service) -- Officials from eight Asian governments are meeting here under the auspices of the Basel Convention on the Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal to seek solutions to the growing deluge of electrical and electronic wastes -- popularly known as “e-wastes”.

“A few decades ago, very few families in wealthier countries and communities owned a personal computer or other electronic devices”, said Executive Director Klaus Töpfer of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), under whose auspices the Basel Convention was adopted in 1989.

“Today, PCs are becoming widespread in homes and are ubiquitous throughout the business world and in organizations of every kind.  The emerging issue of “e-wastes” needs to be tackled urgently as the production and use of PCs continues to rise dramatically”, he said.

A number of Asian countries are generally considered to be the main importers of “e-wastes” generated around the world.  Importing countries can earn significant income from refurbishing used PCs and disassembling obsolete PCs, monitors and circuit boards and then recovering the gold, copper and other precious metals.

End-of-life PCs, as well as printers and other related equipment, are made of highly sophisticated blends of metals, plastics and other materials.  They also often contain hazardous substances such as lead, cadmium and mercury.  Workers in “e-waste” operations may face dangerous working conditions where health, safety and environmental standards may be compromised.

A variety of potential solutions is being discussed at the Tianjin meeting.  For example, dismantling can be made easier and safer by incorporating these concerns at the design stage.  Manufacturers can be given responsibility for managing the wastes resulting from the equipment they sell.  National capacities and legislative frameworks for monitoring and controlling transboundary movements of this priority hazardous-waste stream can be strengthened.

The meeting will also consider how to start producing authoritative data on “e-waste” streams, and it will start evaluating current technical practices.

The environmentally sound management of electronic wastes is an important element of the Strategic Plan now being developed by the member governments of the Basel Convention.  This Plan will be finalized at the sixth meeting of the Parties

to the Convention, which will be held in Geneva, Switzerland, from

9 to 13 December.

The Asia-Pacific Regional Scoping Workshop on the Environmentally Sound Management of Electronic Wastes is the first intergovernmental meeting to be held on the “e-wastes” problem in Asia.  Organized at the initiative of the Basel Convention Regional Centre in Beijing and the Secretariat of the Basel Convention, the meeting runs from 19 to 22 November.

Participants include government representatives from China, India, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Viet Nam.  Resource persons come from Canada, China, Japan, the United States and the Secretariat of the Basel Convention.  The meeting is hosted by China, and has received financial support from Australia, Canada and Japan.

For interviews or additional information, contact Ibrahim Shafii or Prof. Li Jinhui in Tianjin by calling (86) 22 262 88888 and asking for the Basel “e-waste” conference on the third floor.

In Geneva, contact Michael Williams, UNEP Information Officer, at (41) 22 917-8242/8244/8196, (41) 79 409-1528 (cell) or michael.williams@unep.ch.

For information on the Basel Convention, please see www.basel.int

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