Hong Kong lacks an effective electronic waste (e-waste) recycling and disposal system and does not monitor e-waste exports from the Territory. "E-waste releases large amounts of toxic substances such as mercury, lead and beryllium. The unregulated recycling system in Hong Kong results in toxic e-waste being exported to our Mainland cousins," said Greenpeace Toxics campaigner Apple Chan. Greenpeace calls on the HKSAR government to uphold its commitment to the Basel Convention by stopping this hazardous trade and asks manufacturers of electronic products to quickly adopt "take back" policies for old equipment.

Dumped computers, mobile phones, television sets and electric appliances are examples of e-waste. According to the Environmental Protection Department, more than 2 million pieces of e-waste are disposed of in Hong Kong each year with a total volume of 128 thousand cubic metres "enough to fill 64 Olympic size swimming pools. Almost a quarter of the e-waste, over 450,000, are computers - that's over 1200 computers dumped every day.

The international treaty that regulates disposal and export of e-waste, The Basel Convention, prohibits the export of hazardous e-waste from developed to developing countries and sets up the "prior informed consent" system. This permits the export of hazardous wastes only with the written consent from the recipient countries (including en route countries). China ratified the Basel Convention in May 2001. The world's largest producer of electronic pollution, the United States, is the only developed country not to have ratified the Basel Convention.The US ignores the Convention and constantly exports highly dangerous e-waste to developing countries, 90% of which is smuggled into China.

The Greenpeace-commissioned report found that Hong Kong's e-waste recycling system is informal and ineffective. Most e-waste generated in Hong Kong is collected by local recycling merchants. Between 10 and 20% is dumped in landfills with the remainder being exported to Mainland China. "In recent years, there has been a huge demand for computers in China, stimulating increasing imports of computer waste for recycling from Hong Kong. Nanhai, Huizhou, Shantou and Chaozhou in Guangdong Province are the main entry points for e-waste imports from Hong Kong" said Chu Han Keung, author of the report.

On recent visits to several e-waste dumping grounds Greenpeace researchers found workers wearing no protective clothing burning cables with candles and dismantling computers with hammers. The workers did not seem to understand the hazardous nature of their work. Greenpeace also found the rivers of Guiyu in Chaozhou running black, resulting in the villagers preferring to get their drinking water from a neighbouring village.

As the Basel Convention only regulates international transports of hazardous waste and given that Hong Kong is not a country, its re-export of e-waste to China does not fall within the scope of the Convention. Both Hong Kong and China believe that the principle of the Basel Convention has been incorporated into Hong Kong's "Waste Disposal Ordinance" through an annotation called the "Memorandum on the Management and Cooperation over Waste Transfer Between Mainland China and HKSAR".

"Although the memorandum was signed, positive cooperation on the crackdown of e-waste smuggling has not been seen. The actual problem is that the Import and Export (Registration) Regulations of HKSAR only require a permit up to 14 days after the waste has left HKSAR.Given that it only takes a day for toxic cargoes of e-waste to reach the nearest port in Guangzhou by sea, and that this gives sufficient time for dissembly, re-assembly and permit application within the 14 day limit, this regulation is clearly useless." said Apple Chan.

Greenpeace calls on the HKSAR Government to develop a safe e-waste recycling system and regulate it by strengthening cooperation between local government and the Central Government. "However, Greenpeace believes that the most effective way to stop the hazardous e-waste trade is to implement the principle of "Corporate liability" holding producers responsible for safe disposal of their products through the introduction of "take back" policies. We call for the development of clean production to prevent the human health and environmental impacts of the hazardous trade in e-waste" Apple Chan said.