Millions of television sets and old computer monitors taken to civic amenity

Millions of television sets and old computer monitors taken to civic amenity sites as rubbish are being collected and shipped to Africa and Asia, an illegal trade worth ￡ 7,000,000 a year, according to an unpublished report by the Environment Agency and the recycling industry. The business carried out by totters—people who sift through rubbish for saleable objects—became illegal on the 1 st of January 2002 under European Union legislation designed to prevent toxic waste material being shipped to developing countries.
    Electrical equipment containing leaded glass, particularly computers and televisions, were reclassified as toxic waste. The agency is alarmed that half a million televisions and a similar number of computer monitors which people thought were being disposed of in England are being reused or dumped in the developing world.
    The agency is finding the trade hard to control but is planning to publish guidance to the industry soon.
    Environment groups point out that this action will not be sufficient to stop an illegal business.
    Claire Wilton of Friends of the Earth said, "The agency has known about this situation for two years but has still failed to act. The companies involved in this illegal trade must be prevented from dumping Britain’s toxic waste on developing countries, where workers’ conditions rarely match those expected in Europe. " Action must be taken now to stop this environmental injustice continuing.
    The Industry Council for Electronic Equipment Recycling estimates that 11 ,000 tons of old TV sets, about 500,000 in total, and a similar number of old computer monitors find their way to developing countries each year. Many are cannibalized for spare parts but some are repaired and sold to people who would not otherwise have a television or computer.
    The Industry Council for Electronic Equipment Recycling defends its members who buy computers and other office equipment from industry and ship them abroad, because under EU rules the business is legal if they are working models and intended to be sold on the second-hand market. The problem arises when equipment is thrown away. The law says if it is discarded, even if it may be working, it must be classed as rubbish and cannot be resold to a developing country because it is technically toxic waste.