By Xinhua,
Jakarta : A global toxic trade watchdog, the Basel Action Network, has again called on the United States to ratify the international toxic treaty and stop illegal trafficking of hazardous electronic waste, an Indonesian daily said Tuesday.
The statement was made at the opening of the international conference on the Basel Convention’s Control of Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal in the Indonesian resort island of Bali Monday.
“Until the United States changes its position within the Basel Convention and decides to join the rest of the global community in prohibiting the unscrupulous and environmentally damaging export of hazardous wastes to developing countries, it would be much better for the earth and its inhabitants to keep the United States out of the Basel Convention entirely,” the Basel Network said in a statement as quoted by The Jakarta Post.
Delegations of the United States attended the meeting as observers.
The Basel Action Network also criticized the United States’ Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for sponsoring and funding the development of an electronic waste recycling standard, allowing U.S. recyclers to continue exporting toxic e-waste.
“The United States routinely allows massive exports of toxic e-waste to countries they know prohibit such imports,” Jim Puckett of the Basel Action Network said.
“They never openly condoned this practice. The EPA is shamefully sanctioning a standard that openly advocates illegal trafficking into toxic electronic waste. Without a doubt, the United States is the world champion of e-waste dumping,” he said.
The United Nations estimates between 20 million and 50 million tons of electronic waste are generated worldwide each year.
E-waste contains lead, mercury and cadmium, which could cause intellectual impairment and damage to almost every organ and system in the human body, including the brain, nerves and bones.