Global Watchdog: Hong Kong's EPD is Wrong About the Basel Convention and the Harm that e-Waste Junkyards are Causing in New Territories

For the last decade, according to BAN, EPD has continually tolerated illegal importation, and their record for environmental protection and enforcement of international law with respect to the importation of e-waste into the territory of Hong Kong has been negligent.

The EPD press release boasts that in the last 5 years they have inspected electronic waste sites 700 times but had only 16 "Convicted cases." Second, BAN expresses alarm at EPDs ignorance when they say: "As regards the dismantling of computer components and circuit boards by manual labour at recycling sites as mentioned in the media report, these simple sorting and separation of recyclable components into plastics, metal scraps and circuit boards, will not normally release harmful substances to the environment, these activities therefore will not violate the law." EPD should know better.

"Sadly, the exposure issues, and we have not even touched on the impacts on farms and fisheries, are not understood by the workers and local communities. The EPD's statement declaring these electronic breakdown operations found in New Territories, do not pose a problem for human health and the environment, is not only surprisingly irresponsible, but is exploitive of ignorant workers and will lead to their contracting occupational disease," said Puckett.