Last March it was revealed that hazardous waste from the wealthy West was being sent to less well-off nations such as China, India and Pakistan. Basal Action Network (BAN) and the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition revealed that poor workers in China were being employed to break apart obsolete computers, coming into contact with toxic substances from lead-laden cathode ray tubes to soldered circuit boards.

Now Thailand has become the target for waste traders, and it has been revealed that the ports of Klong Toey in Bangkok and another in Samut Prakan province have received around 20 tonnes of hazardous computer and electronic waste, say Greenpeace and BAN. They have also received unspecified amounts of hazardous battery and medical wastes, and around 1,000 old tyres, say the NGOs.

Fortunately, there are signs that the West is listening. In Washington State, a bill regulating electronic waste received its first reading on 17 February. The bill would require every electronic equipment manufacturer to develop and implement a plan to collect and recycle or reuse their waste products.

On the same day, Europe finally put two new directives controlling electric and electronic waste and their associated hazardous chemicals on its statute books.