History of Transboundary Movement and Management of Electronic Waste

History of Transboundary Movement and Management of Electronic Waste

In 2006, the Basel Convention Conference in Nairobi, Kenya, discussed strengthening regulations on the transboundary movement of e-waste in the wake of the illegal dumping of 500 tons of hazardous waste in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire, by the Dutch company Trafigura. The incident resulted in 15 deaths and more than 108,000 people suffering from poisoning; in 2010, about 40 million tons of e-waste was generated annually; lead and dioxin contamination from improper disposal in Guiyu, Guangdong Province, China, became serious; global generation increased to 53.6 million tons in 2019, with the largest share of the total generated in the world coming from Asia, Asia accounted for 46% of the total. In the Agbogbrosi district of Ghana, improper incineration has generated toxic gases, causing a series of health problems for residents. In Japan, the Small Home Appliance Recycling Law will be revised in 2020 to expand the scope of recycling, and Apple, Samsung, and other companies are streng
thening their recycling programs. International cooperation is underway based on the new guidelines of the Basel Convention.