30 May 2011

Smugglers sneaking e-waste out of Australia

Australia has been accused of breaking its international obligations by not doing more to stop electronic waste being smuggled out of the country.

The ABC has learned that four shipments of illegal e-waste - including discarded computers, mobile phones, televisions and other devices which contain deadly chemicals - have been intercepted so far this year.

But details about the seizures are sketchy.

Australia is starting to groan under the weight of a growing mountain of electronic waste. The discarded devices often end up in landfill with all the environmental concerns that generates.

Enforcing legislation
So far calls to several government agencies, including Customs, have failed to answer any detailed questions about the seizures and whether or not anyone was charged for smuggling.

The responsible parliamentary secretary, Don Farrell, has also been unavailable for comment.

Mr Walker says much of the rest ends up in landfill.

"I think the current figure is about 40 million computers have gone into landfill here in Australia alone," he said.

"But around 60 per cent say of the computers that are collected through recycling schemes end up going overseas".
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