More than 200 tonnes of electronic waste illegally imported from us in Thailand, the managers say

Thai officials said on Wednesday that they had seized 238 tonnes of illegal import electronic waste From the United States to the port of Bangkok, one of the biggest prizes they found this year.

The waste, which came in 10 large containers, were declared as a mixed scrap containing aluminum, copper and iron, but turned out to be printed circuit cards mixed in a huge pile of metal scrap metal, said Theeraj Athanavanich, director general of the customs department.

Electronic waste – which is classified as hazardous waste under the Basel Convention on the control of cross -border movements of hazardous waste and their elimination – were found Tuesday after 40 -foot containers have become the subject of a random routine inspection, officials said.

The Basel Convention is an international treaty signed in 1989 intended to cope with hazardous waste that moves to developing countries Elimination costs have increased as well as the quantity of waste.

A United Nations report last year said that electronic waste is accumulating worldwide. Some 62 million tonnes of electronic waste was generated in 2022 and this figure is on the right track to reach 82 million tonnes by 2030, according to the report. He said that only 22% of the waste has been properly collected and recycled in 2022 and that the quantity should fall to 20% by the end of the decade due to higher consumption, limited repair options, shorter products of shorter products and inadequate management infrastructures.

Theeraj said the Thai authorities planned to file a complaint, in particular to falsely declare imported goods, to illegally import electronic waste and plan to re -export waste in its country of origin.

“It is important that we take measures on this type of property,” he said. “There are environmental impacts that are dangerous for people, especially factories communities that could import these things for treatment, then recycling.”

Electronic waste creates enormously Dangers to health. Many components are loaded with lead and mercury, cadmium and other toxins. The recyclers are after gold, silver, palladium and copper, mainly printed circuit cards, but lax controls mean that installations often burn plastics to free up locked copper and use dangerous methods to extract precious metals.

Thailand was prohibited on importing a range of electronic waste in 2020. The firm in February approved an extended list of prohibited waste.

Santhron Kewsawang, deputy managing director of the industrial work department, said officials suspected at least two factories in the province of Samut Sakhon, which borders Bangkok, involve the importation of waste. Last year, Thai officials found thousands of tonnes of smuggling cadmium waste in a province factory, Thai PBS reported.

Residents close to the area later turned out to have general levels of toxic metal in their urine, according to the report. Exposure to cadmium can cause pseudo-grippal symptoms, including chills, fever and muscle pain, according to the American administration of safety and health at work. Long -term exposure can cause cancer, kidneys, bones and pulmonary diseases.

In January, the customs service said it had seized 256 tonnes of illegally imported electronic waste from Japan and Hong Kong in an eastern Thailand port.

The report is contributed to this report.