Illegal African dumping highlights absence of eWaste policing

The government was yesterday accused of failing in its duty to enforce its own eWaste regulations in the wake of fresh reports that large quantities of broken IT equipment are continuing to be dumped illegally in Africa.

More than a year after the introduction of the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) directive, experts claim the legislation "lacks teeth" and its enforcement body, the Environment Agency, is badly under funded. These are accusations the Agency has only partially denied.

Under WEEE, IT manufacturers are legally responsible for the safe disposal of their products, and are obliged to ensure all products are disposed of in an environmentally friendly manner themselves or sign up with a government-approved waste-handling firm.

However, a recent investigation from Greenpeace International has revealed that large quantities of broken computers, monitors and TVs from brands including Philips, Canon, Dell Microsoft, Nokia, Siemens and Sony are being illegally shipped to Africa and are continuing to end up in scrap yards in Ghana.

The broken machines are then stripped, crushed and burned by workers, many of whom are children, to remove the valuable components and metals. A process that not only pollutes local water tables, but also exposes workers to potentially toxic dust and fumes, said the Greenpeace report.

Critics claim that the shipment of the broken goods is clearly illegal, but the Environment Agency is shying away from its enforcement role and lacks the resources to adequately police the new rules.

Martin Hojsik, Greenpeace International toxics campaigner and the man behind a lot of the research, said he had found equipment from the NHS, local councils, schools and universities in the dumps.

A spokesman for the Department of Health said it was not directly accountable for the equipment found in Ghana, arguing it was the responsibility of local health trusts to ensure they are WEEE-compliant. However, the uncovering of public sector machines in African scrap yards proves that the rules are being flouted at some point in the waste stream.

A spokesman for the Environment Agency acknowledged that there were funding issues, adding that the complexity of the legislation had made the policing of the legislation difficult.

Tony Roberts, founder and director of development at Computer Aid International, said the agency is too low on resources to adequately enforce WEEE. "The Environment Agency has no staff to oversee those who knowingly flout the WEEE directive, he observed.

Roberts has had lots of experience working the agency in his role at Computer Aid, a charity that distributes refurbished computers for reuse in developing countries. He added, "The problem with the WEEE legislation is it has no teeth".

Critics claim the situation is likely to worsen in the wake of Defra budget cuts earlier this year that saw the Environment Agency slash funding for waste management programmes by 38 per cent – a move that was criticised earlier this week in a House of Lords report that urged the government to reverse budget cuts to green business support agencies.