Time to deal with e-waste

Electrical appliances, from television sets to refrigerators, mobile phones to tablet computers, have become an essential part of our daily lives. However, most consumers aren’t aware of what happens to the obsolete gadgets that they have discarded. A lot of electronic waste, in fact, contain toxic, heavy elements, such as nickel, cadmium, lead and mercury, along with traces of precious metals like gold and silver.
Without proper waste treatment, these hazardous materials pose a risk to the environment and/or public health, so as the world marks International e-Waste Day — which officially falls on Oct 14 each year — the time is ripe to urge the government to start taking the matter seriously.
While many cities around the globe marked the day with various public awareness campaigns about the importance of recycling, many people in Thailand are neither aware of the day nor the importance of reducing one’s environmental footprint.
The lack of attention is a cause of concern because Thailand is a major contributor to electronic waste in Southeast Asia — second only to Indonesia, according to a study in 2022.
According to figures released by the Pollution Control Department in 2020, just 360 tonnes of the 418,113 tonnes of electronic waste generated in the country was properly collected and processed by local authorities. Over 80% of the waste ends up in the hands of scavengers and informal recyclers, who rely on rudimentary chemical processes to extract what valuable material they can extract from the rubbish. These processes do not only pose a risk to their health and safety but also to the environment.
Meanwhile, as the country buckles under the weight of its own rubbish, irresponsible businesses are taking advantage of legal loopholes that allow them to import electronic waste from other countries for disposal in Thailand.
Despite the government having banned the import of electronic and toxic waste a few years ago, over the past five years, police have found several clandestine recycling plants and landfills filled with imported electronic waste.
The problem is caused by the lack of an effective regulatory framework to regulate the management of electronic waste in the country. Companies that produce electronic appliances are not required by law to put in place measures to deal with products disposed of by their customers — unlike in Germany and Japan, where such companies are required to think of a way to deal with disposed electronic waste.
The government has tried to come up with a framework to deal with the issue. The Pollution Control Department proposed the Electrical Waste and Electronic Equipment Bill in 2020. The bill underwent public hearings in February, but there are no signs that the bill will be tabled for a reading in parliament anytime soon.
The hearing found many stakeholders are still opposed to the bill, which, if approved, will require manufacturers of electronic products to take in the products disposed by consumers. Without a doubt, this will cost the manufacturers, but ultimately the bill will benefit the environment and society as a whole.
Politicians in parliament have a responsibility to pass the Electrical Waste and Electronic Equipment Bill right away.
With the volume of electronics set to rise, especially with the rise of electric vehicles, the country needs a framework to deal with the problem.