Environmental decay and the illegal market in e-waste from a European perspective: current problems and future directions

AutorGiada dalla Gasperina
CargoPh.D. Candidate in International Studies, School of International Studies, University of Trento (Italy)
Páginas1-54

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Over the past decade, transporting electrical and electronic waste (or "e-waste") illegally from the European Union (EU) to less industrialized countries has become a very lucrative business.1 Despite increasing regulatory efforts, the EU has not been able to reduce this upward trend. Sent to ill-equipped recycling facilities in developing states, electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) has proven to pose severe threats to the environment.2

Research demonstrates that the illegal market in e-waste has intensified environmental

*An earlier version of this paper was presented at the Eighth Annual Colloquium of the IUCN Academy of Environmental Law held on 13-17 September 2010, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.

** The author owes special thanks to Professor Michael Lynch for his support and suggestions. She would also like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments.

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pollution, creating an accumulation of hazardous substances in natural environments.3

Empirical evidence suggests that the uncontrolled dispersion of toxic pollutants, released by dumped waste or by the burning of waste on open fires, is a severe threat to the integrity of local ecosystems and wildlife.4

In response, researchers across the disciplines have examined the issue over the years. Discussions have revolved around the impact of the EU legislation that, in addition to the Basel Convention - an international treaty that establishes a global framework for controlling the transboundary trade in hazardous waste - regulates the shipment of waste across EU member states and to non-EU countries.5 In several other arenas, scholars have attempted to explore factors associated with the illegal trafficking in waste. On the one hand, criminologists have focused on the transnational dimension of this environmental crime and the involvement of organized crime syndicates while lawyers have examined the

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EU legislation and its asymmetries.6 On the other hand, biologists and toxicologists have studied the environmental implications associated with the release of pollutants from inorganic wastes.7 However, no studies have focused on the relationship between illegal trafficking in e-waste and environmental degradation.8 So far, it seems that researchers have disregarded scientific evidence that shows the dangers of hazardous substances and the devastating effects of e-waste pollution on the environment. Moreover, scholars have not yet considered the impact of the EU legislation on e-waste: namely, the EU Directive on the Restriction of the Use of Certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment (RoHS), the EU Directive on Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) and the recast proposals.9 The EU legislation on e-waste, which has introduced new standards in the fields of electronics manufacturing and e-waste management, could have an impact on biodiversity and ecosystem protection not only within the EU but also

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beyond its borders.10 In particular, no studies have investigated whether the legal constraints of the EU legislation on e-waste could result in e-waste pollution posing a greater threat to the environment. The present analysis focuses on this facet of the legislation, and suggests further insights into the RoHS and WEEE Directives, because of their potential to enhance environmental protection globally.

The paper is divided into three sections. The first provides an overview of the issue of illegal waste trafficking, focusing specifically on the exportation of e-waste out of the EU to countries that are not members of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (non-OECD countries).11 The second section explores the impact of e-waste pollution caused by primitive recycling activities, including water and soil contamination. To this end, details about the pollution potentials of e-waste and its effects on biodiversity are provided. The third section examines how legislation in the EU has been passed to protect the environment against the threat posed by e-waste handling, but has failed to adequately tackle the problem of e-waste pollution and management. In particular, attention is devoted to the RoHS Directive, the WEEE Directive and the recast proposals in order to problematize the challenges to effective environmental protection.

I Background and overview

The problem of transboundary pollution from toxic waste can be traced back to the 1980s, when Europe and the U.S. witnessed an intensification of waste export to less industrialized

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countries.12 This intensification was the result of several factors, among which were the increase in the costs of the environmentally sound management of waste in developed states, world economic globalization and national regulatory and market asymmetries.13

These circumstances have provided the opportunity for corporations to transport waste across national borders in search of more lucrative places to externalize environmental costs.14 The human rights and environmental costs of this north-south trade have proven detrimental for the destination countries, since toxic cargoes originating from industrialized states have been repeatedly discharged in open fields or along seashores.15 In response, the Basel Convention was adopted in 1989 to regulate the transboundary movement of hazardous waste and introduce standards for the environmentally sound management of

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waste.16 More recently, the EU passed the European Waste Shipments Regulation (EC) No. 1013/2006 (WSR), thus amending the existing EU legislation on waste movement.17 This legislation is significant because not only has it implemented the Basel Convention, it has also prohibited the export of waste to non-OECD countries.18 Specifically, the WSR bans the export of waste destined for disposal and the export of hazardous waste destined for recovery to non-OECD countries.19 However, despite the regulatory efforts, the EU has

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registered an increase in the illegal shipment of waste to non-OECD countries, principally to ports in Asia and Africa.20

More recently, a new challenge has arisen within society. Electrical and electronic equipment rapidly becomes obsolete and is discarded at an alarming rate and this has fuelled the illegal market in waste.21 Hence, increasing amounts of e-waste exported from the EU have been discarded illegally in developing states.22 Efforts to counteract this trend have been unsuccessful. Although the WSR dictates that e-waste shipments can only take place if they comply with the WSR provisions and if e-waste is sent to OECD countries, the ban on exports has not yielded the expected results.23 Its failure is largely due to the fact

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that electronic appliances can be shipped to non-OECD countries if they go to the secondhand market for resale.24 These different rules on export are adequate for limited purposes such as re-using second-hand items, but when they are applied to the export of second-hand electronics to non-OECD countries, they become much harder to justify. As a consequence, the distinction between second-hand equipment and e-waste, instead of preventing illegal export, has proven to be highly criminogenic. Indeed, field studies have shown that companies have intentionally falsified export documents and labeled e-waste as secondhand material in order to circumvent the WSR ban.25

End-of-life electrical and electronic equipments are mainly sent to Africa, China or India where the demand for raw materials is high, environmental regulations are lax, and handling, recycling and disposal of e-waste is very profitable.26 Even though states that face the most severe threats from these illegal activities have passed legislation that bans the import of e-waste, they have not been able to counteract this trend.27 As documented by

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existing research, countries such as China and Nigeria have developed a thriving business of illegal "backyard recycling" facilities where workers employ primitive tools and methods to recover commercial materials and components from e-waste.28 In particular, studies report that "the processes and techniques used...during the recycling activities are often primitive and lack pollution control measures".29 E-waste is recycled in uncontrolled environments and the residual components are burned or discarded in open fields causing further release of toxic substances into the air, soil and water.30 Researchers highlight that "metal contamination arisen from primitive recycling and processing of electronic and computer wastes.... is an emerging global environmental issue, as these wastes have become one of the fastest growing waste types in some parts of the world".31

II The dangers of illegal trafficking in e-waste

Often overlooked by scholars, the environmental costs of electronics production and consumption are increasingly affecting peripheral ecosystems and could become important drivers of environmental deterioration and biodiversity loss. Although the extent of the

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damages caused by e-waste pollution is unknown, researchers from the natural sciences have been issuing warnings about the perils of hazardous substances and waste pollutions for years. In order to illustrate this point, this section first provides evidence about...

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