China will tighten control over the entry of discarded electronic
appliances from foreign nations in order to prevent environment
pollution, according to the country's environment department.
State departments in charge of environmental protection, customs
and quarantine will publish a detailed list of banned electronic
wastes from overseas, which will include TV sets, kinescopes,
computer displays, Xerox machines, video cameras and telephones,
said an official with the State
Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA).
Fears of hazards from such kind of wastes were aroused by recent
incidents in south China's Guangdong Province, in which the coastal
town of Guiyu suffered from contamination of river water as locals
used improper methods to dispose of computer parts in a search for
valuable metals.
Disassembly of used computers will not do harm to the environment
unless the computer monitors are disposed using substandard
methods, said Wang Ji, who is in charge of the local control of
pollution from solid wastes and toxic chemicals.
But the problem in China is that many unlicensed workshops with
poor facilities have joined the business of recycling electronic
wastes, and they do not meet the state's strict processing
standards, she said.
Law enforcement departments will close those illegal and highly
polluting businesses, and will crack down on the smuggling of
dangerous wastes, she added.
The SEPA official noted that some developing countries run the risk
of becoming dumping grounds for electronic wastes from developed
countries, though an international treaty on the control of
border-crossing transfer of dangerous wastes has been widely
accepted around the world.
Certain countries should strengthen control over the export of
their electronic wastes to prevent it from being dumped in China,
Wang said, adding that China's regulations on the import of
electronic wastes should also be better known worldwide.
( May 31, 2002)