www.environment-agency.gov.uk
An EU directive, meant to resolve issues related to electronic waste, is reportedly being abused in Britain.
Raids conducted over the last few months aimed at enforcing the EU Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) directive have revealed that organised crime is involved in the recycling sector.
During early June raids, Environment Agency officials and police targeted an Upminster farm and a Rainham industrial site, finding over 500 containers filled with used computers, computer monitors, refrigerators and other assorted electrical waste set to be exported illegally to Africa, where the disused equipment would be stripped for raw materials.
Chris Smith, the national enforcement service project manager at the Environment Agency, said: “Our investigations have found that the majority of this equipment is beyond repair and is being stripped down under appalling conditions in Africa. But the law is clear - electrical waste must be recycled in the UK, not sent to developing countries in Africa where unsafe dismantling puts human health and the environment at risk.”
Thanks to www.guardian.co.uk for the above quotes, for more information on this article please visit their website.
www.environment-agency.gov.uk
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