U.S. E-Waste Exportsโข Fuel Environmental Crisis โin Southeast Asia,โ Report Finds
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – โฃA new report alleges the โฃUnited States isโ increasingly becoming a primary source of electronic waste โ(e-waste) flooding Southeast Asia, creating aโ “hidden tsunami” of pollutionโค and endangering vulnerable workers.Theโฃ report, released today, details โฃhow U.S. e-waste is โbeing shipped toโ Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, and the United Arab Emirates, often in violationโฃ of international โand national โlaws.
While the U.S. generatesโ theโค moast e-waste globally, a meaningful portion is being exported, effectively โฃtransferring environmental burdens toโฃ developing nations. The report estimates that U.S. e-waste shipmentsโ mayโฃ have โฃcomprised approximately โฃ6% of all U.S. exports to Malaysiaโ between 2023 and 2025, a trend exacerbated by China’s 2017 ban on foreign waste importsโ which prompted Chinese businesses to relocate operations to Southeast Asia.This โคinflux โขstrains local waste management systems, overwhelms existing infrastructure,โข and exposes workers to hazardous conditions.
“It โฃsimply means the country is being overwhelmed with whatโ is essentially pollution transfer from other nations,” saidโ the report’s author.
The report highlightsโข a pattern of โขillegal shipments and lax oversight, with containers falsely labeled or lacking proper documentation. In receiving countries,”undocumented workers desperate โfor jobs” are reportedly working in unsafe,makeshift facilities,dismantling devices without protective gear and inhaling toxic fumes from processes like wire stripping and plastic melting.
Authorities in Thailand โคand malaysia have recently taken action, seizing significant quantities of โillegally imported U.S. e-waste. inโ May, Thai authorities seized 238 tons of U.S. scrap at Bangkok’s โport, and in June, โMalaysian authorities confiscated e-waste valued at $118 million in nationwide raids. Though, muchโ of the processingโ occurs in illegal โฃfacilities lacking environmental safeguards, according to SiPeng Wong, of Malaysia’s centre to Combat Corruption & โCronyism.
Theโฃ report frames the practice โas a formโ of “wasteโข colonialism,” where wealthier nations offload their environmental problems onto less developed countries. Jim Puckett of the โฃbasel Action Network described Malaysia as having “suddenly become this mecca of junk” โฃfollowing China’s import ban. The Basel Convention prohibits โฃthe export of hazardous waste, including much e-waste, from developed to โฃdeveloping countries, but enforcement remains a challenge.
