Additional Coverage:
Bangkok Bust: 238 Tons of E-Waste Seized from US Shipment
Thai customs officials announced a major bust on Wednesday, intercepting a staggering 238 tons of illegal electronic waste shipped from the United States. The massive haul, discovered at the port of Bangkok, represents one of the largest seizures of its kind this year.
Hidden within ten 40-foot containers falsely declared as mixed metal scrap, the illicit cargo contained a mountain of circuit boards buried amongst more conventional scrap metal. Theeraj Athanavanich, director-general of the Customs Department, stated the containers were flagged during a routine random inspection.
This e-waste is classified as hazardous under the Basel Convention, an international treaty designed to prevent the flow of hazardous waste into developing countries. The sheer volume of this seizure underscores the growing global e-waste crisis, highlighted in a recent UN report.
The report revealed a global generation of 62 million tons of e-waste in 2022, projected to surge to 82 million tons by 2030. Alarmingly, only a fraction of this waste is properly recycled, with inadequate management infrastructure exacerbating the problem.
Thai authorities are pursuing charges against those responsible, including false declaration, illegal importation, and plans for re-exportation back to the US. Athanavanich emphasized the serious environmental and health risks posed by such waste, particularly to communities near processing facilities. E-waste often contains hazardous materials like lead, mercury, and cadmium, posing significant health hazards to those exposed.
Thailand implemented an import ban on various e-waste products in 2020 and further expanded the list earlier this year. Authorities suspect two factories in the neighboring Samut Sakhon province are implicated in this latest incident.
Last year, the same province saw the discovery of thousands of tons of smuggled cadmium waste, leading to alarmingly high levels of the toxic metal found in the urine of nearby residents. Exposure to cadmium can cause a range of health problems, from flu-like symptoms to long-term risks like cancer and organ damage.
Earlier this year, Thai customs also intercepted 256 tons of e-waste from Japan and Hong Kong, highlighting the ongoing battle against illegal e-waste trafficking.