Bangkok – Thai officials said on Wednesday that they confiscated 238 tons of illegally imported electronic waste from the United States in the port of Bangkok, one of the largest lots they have found this year.
The waste, which arrived in 10 large containers, declared themselves as mixed metal scrap, but turned out to be mixed circuit boards in a large stack of metal scrap, said Theeraj Athanavanich, general director of the Customs Department.
The waste found themselves on Tuesday after the containers became the object of a random inspection of routine, authorities said.
A UN report last year Said electronic waste is accumulating worldwide. About 62 million tons of electronic waste were generated in 2022 and that figure is on its way to reaching 82 million tons by 2030, according to the report. He said that only 22% of the waste was collected and recycled properly in 2022 and that this amount is expected to fall to 20% for the end of the decade due to greater consumption, limited repair options, life cycles of shorter products and inadequate management infrastructure.
Theeraj said that Thai authorities seek to press charges, including the falsely imported statement of imported goods, the illegal import of electronic waste and planning to re -export waste to their country of origin.
“It is important that we take measures on this type of goods,” he said. “There are environmental impacts that are dangerous for people, especially communities around factories that could import these things for processing, then recycle.”
Electronic waste is created huge health risks. Many components are loaded with lead and mercury, cadmium and other toxins. Recyclers are after gold, silver, paladium and copper, mainly from printed circuit plates, but lax controls mean that facilities are often burned plastics to release locked copper and use insecure methods to extract precious metals.
Thailand approved a prohibition of the importation of a variety of electronic waste products in 2020. The cabinet in February approved an expanded list of prohibited waste.
Sunthron Kewsawang, deputy general director of the Department of Industrial Works, said officials suspected that at least two factories in the province of Samut Sakhon, which limits with Bangkok, are involved in the import of waste.
In January, the Customs Department said it seized 256 tons of illegally imported electronic waste from Japan and Hong Kong in a port in eastern Thailand.
