PETALING JAYA: Taking ownership and strengthening enforcement are vital steps to curb the illegal import of electronic waste (e-waste) into Malaysia.
Companies dealing in e-waste should be more responsible and not get consignments from unaccredited or unlicensed suppliers, or have any business dealings with them.
Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM) secretary S. Mageswari said the authorities should look into reports of illegal imports of e-waste and enforce the law more stringently.
She was referring to reports that a consignment of e-waste from the United States had been sent to Malaysia.
The Department of Environment and SAM were notified of the illegal import of e-waste by the Basel Action Network.
Mageswari pointed out that the Malaysian government has set certain restrictions on how to handle e-waste.
“These restrictions were not met by the importers of the said consignment. Furthermore, the United States has not ratified the Basel Convention,” she said.
The convention is an international pact to control the movement of hazardous waste across international borders. It is specifically aimed at curbing the transfer of such waste from developed to less developed countries.
Mageswari said in this particular case, both importer and exporter had failed to practise ethical business dealings on waste management.
“Such companies have certain rules to abide by. However, we have seen waste consignments being accepted without proper oversight as the Customs Department sometimes does not carry out checks,” she claimed.
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