Page 49 from: October 2014

49October 2014

links between exposure to e-scrap and mental

and neurological development, physical health,

education, violence and criminal behaviour.

Constant constraint
Owing to the dominance of the informal sector

in e-scrap recycling, their formal counterparts

in Asia are more reluctant to invest in state-of-

the-art processing facilities. Furthermore, these

formal recyclers are generally suffering from a

poor supply of raw materials.

In the developing nations of Asia, formal recycling

systems are not well-established as a result of:

– Lack of regulation and regulatory enforcement;

– Lack of extended producer responsibility and

corporate social responsibility;

– Lack of awareness in general;

– Lack of financial incentives and a supportive

system;

– Regulatory confusion from place to place,

state to state and country to country;

– A weak collection structure;

– Geopolitical systems and social issues limit-

ing decision-making;

– Omnipresent corruption.

Although many formal recyclers stand ready to

invest in environmentally-friendly technology

and are able to comply with international reg-

ulations, the above-mentioned concerns act as

a constant constraint.

In the price war between the formal and infor-

mal sectors, the former remains uncompetitive.

The number of full-service facilities in Asia is

very low. The combination of low-cost recy-

cling practices, high demand for second-hand

electronic and electrical appliances, and the

habit of e-scrap being sold to individual collec-

tors is detrimental to the growth of the formal

sector.

Discouragingly slow change
Generators of e-scrap, including original equip-

ment manufacturers (OEMs), institutions,

industries and individual consumers, are not

taking on sufficient responsibility for the end-

of-life recycling of products. In the absence of

dedicated e-scrap regulations and enforcement,

most OEMs are not performing responsibly in

Asia.

In contrast, the same OEMs may be performing

well in developed countries owing to a stricter

legal framework and better enforcement. In

most developed countries, generators pay for

the recycling of their end-of-life products, but

the same is not true in the emerging Asian

economies where producers are looking for

quick profits – potentially at the expense of a

huge impact on the environment and workers’

health and safety.

Although serious initiatives are being under-

taken, such as the setting-up of take-back sys-

tems and voluntary programmes, the e-scrap

sector in Asia is changing at a discouragingly

slow speed. Most of the e-scrap still ends up in

the informal sector where the generator’s intel-

lectual property and data security are under

serious threat.

In the Asian context, OEMs are not supporting

formal recycling systems – thus hindering

investment in developing capacity, technology

and pollution control.

In Asia, millions of poor people are engaged in

the informal e-scrap sector and, in many

instances, their livelihoods depend on it. This is

a social and political issue for most governments

in the emerging Asian countries; to date, how-

ever, they have not made some necessary but

difficult choices in this regard. Indeed, confusion

has been created by a lack of awareness, visibil-

ity and responsibility, and poor co-ordination

and communication in most of these countries.

Japan, Taiwan and South Korea have already

established strict, dedicated regulatory frame-

works and are enforcing them. Some other

Asian countries such as China, India, the Phil-

ippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka and

Singapore are in the process of establishing and

implementing regulation – but the key concern

is enforcement. The success of a regulatory

framework will always depend on enforcement,

without which a framework may not benefit

any of the stakeholders.

Not even drafted
The role of the regulators in Asia is very com-

plex. Investor interest, sustaining the poor,

environmental protection, geopolitics, corrup-

tion and a host of other factors render the

decision-making process very tough. Many

authorities are still not in the process of draft-

ing relevant regulations, let alone implement-

ing or enforcing them. This is for a number of

reasons, including the following:

– In many countries, electronics recycling rep-

resents a new market and authorities are not

well-informed about its impacts.

– There is poor knowledge and understanding

of e-scrap.

– There is no dedicated system for handling

e-scrap, which usually falls under municipal

solid waste management.

In countries with vast land areas, e-scrap collection systems will
almost certainly involve higher costs.

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