Environment Agency and Interpol team up to nab "waste tourists"

It may be better known for tackling drug smugglers and arms dealers, but the international police force Interpol has today announced it is to launch a division to tackle the burgeoning trade in illegal electronic waste.

The new Interpol Global Crime Group will be headed up by the UK's Environment Agency and supported by the US Environmental Protection Agency and the Dutch Environment Agency VROM.

The Environment Agency said the group would take an "intelligence-led approach" to tackling the exporting of hazardous e-waste in breach of international laws and will endeavour to uncover the links between organised crime and illegal waste exporters.

In particular, it will seek to tackle the growing phenomenon of "waste tourists" – people who visit the UK as tourists and use their short stay to purchase electronic waste and arrange its export to developing countries.

The new group aims to encourage better co-operation between different countries' environment agencies to help track down suspects, and also work with governments in the developing world to tackle the transfer of waste across borders.

Environment Agency chairman Lord Chris Smith said the international group had the potential to deliver significant environmental benefits.

"Investigations have found that each year thousands of tonnes of waste electrical equipment are shipped from Europe and America to developing countries to be stripped down – often by children under appalling conditions – to extract valuable metals such as gold, copper and aluminium," he said. "This is unacceptable. It is essential that we work with our counterparts in other countries to share intelligence and stamp out the growing problem of illegal waste exports."

A spokeswoman for the Environment Agency said there was evidence to suggest that shipments of illegal waste were increasing.

"We know there has been in increase in the scale of commodity waste being shipped and while much of that is legitimate, it also means there is increased scope for illegal activity," she said. "Our intelligence has revealed that there is more organised criminal activity in this area and has uncovered some of the techniques they are using to export waste illegally, such as waste tourists, mislabelling containers, or mixing in e-waste with other types of recyclable material."