‘There is no other option’
Indonesia is taking strict action against dangerous and unwanted imports from the United States. South China Morning Post reported and officially started sending them back.
What’s going on?
Authorities in the port city of Batam recently exported four shipping containers full of banned e-waste back to the United States
Four containers is not a lot, but Indonesian officials stressed that the shipment is the tip of the iceberg.
According to SCMP, customs workers and inspectors in Indonesia Ministry of Environment and Forestry In September, it discovered an unknown number of shipments “allegedly misrepresented as recyclable materials.”
In fact, the containers contained hazardous electronic waste or e-waste. This discovery led to a statement by Environment Minister Hanif Faisol Nurofiq on October 3.
“The government will not tolerate attempts to turn Indonesia into a dump or processing site for illegal waste from overseas,” Hanif said, according to SCMP. he said.
Containers containing computer parts, disks and circuit boards represent “only a small fraction” of illegal waste imports, port officials said. The Post cited local media reports that more than 900 containers were marked for inspection.
To date, “dozens” of containers have been inspected and “confirmed to contain illegal electronic waste,” according to SCMP. Batam Customs chief Zaky Firmansyah said all imported e-waste will be sent back to its country of origin, namely the United States in the top four.
“All containers carrying hazardous and toxic waste must be re-exported. There is no other option,” Firmansyah said. he said.
Why is this worrying?
Rich countries have long exported the worst of their waste, especially e-waste and plastics, in an “out of sight, out of mind” approach to consumption.
China, which has been importing waste for production for a long time, in 2018 banned import One of 24 categories of waste, including plastic.
in 2022 earth.org It reported that the ban had “immediate and widespread repercussions and major problems for the global recycling industry”, displacing millions of tonnes of plastic waste. As a result, excess flows were diverted to other countries in Southeast Asia, triggering further import bans.
Although at first glance the problem seemed to be a logistics problem, the real problem was overconsumption and the increase in the amount of hazardous waste.
October 2024 World Health Organization The brief warned that e-waste is among the “fastest growing solid waste streams” globally, with 62 million tonnes generated in 2022. A very small 22.3% was “officially documented as collected and recycled.”
E-waste often contains toxic compounds, industrial chemicals, and hazardous heavy metals, and the general public often does not know that they should be disposed of properly. As a result, hazardous e-waste is routinely mixed with household garbage and sent to landfills.
Stored e-waste leaks these substances into the soil, air and groundwater, polluting them.
Moreover, disposable e-waste such as disposable e-cigarettes can be volatile, and lithium-ion batteries can cause fires in garbage trucks and waste processing plants.
What is being done about this?
In October, Hanif warned despite sanctions difficultiesIndonesia’s intention sue criminals.
On an individual level, knowing how to dispose of waste properlyE-waste, in particular, can help reduce the risk it poses to the planet and its inhabitants.
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