Interpol helping to chase illegal e-scrap traffickers

Europe – Global police organisation Interpol has launched a major research project on the illegal trafficking and dumping of used electronics in order to help countries fight what it describes as a ‘growing crime’. The illegal trade and disposal of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) is becoming an increasing threat to global environmental health and security, it adds.

In partnership with a number of organisations and experts in the field, Interpol’s Countering WEEE Illegal Trade (CWIT) project will run for two years and focus on the following for information and data gathering: the WEEE industry, law enforcement and policy-makers.

Co-ordinated by a consortium of seven organisations and funded by the European Commission’s Seventh Framework Programme, the CWIT project is to create a set of recommendations for the European Commission and law enforcement agencies to assist them in countering the illegal trade in e-scrap.

Its tasks are to include: an estimate of the volume of e-scrap generated in Europe; an assessment of the type of companies involved in exporting e-scrap; an analysis of the involvement of organised crime; and the development of a detailed understanding of the destinations and routes used for illegal e-scrap shipments.

For more information, visit: www.cwitproject.eu