Crack down on import of toxic waste

WHEN CUSTOMS OFFICIALS IN WENZHOU, Zhejiang province, checked six containers that had been imported on Tuesday, they found carbon residue from aluminum electrolytic capacitors, which are typically used in power supply equipment and converters. In total, the officials found 42 containers with 1,075 metric tons of carbon waste. Legal Daily comments:

The Wenzhou discovery is not an isolated case. Many such cases have come to light over past few years. Used computers, TV sets, refrigerators and clothes are some of the things that certain foreign companies have “exported” to China.

Last year, Shanwei in Guangdong province prevented the “import” of 780 tons of used clothes, while customs officials in Shenzhen discovered 549 tons of “imported” used clothes. This shows the import of waste has become a problem for China.

An underground industrial chain in the country supports the “import” of waste. The unscrupulous importers pay only a few dozen yuan for one ton of waste but can extract materials, from plastic to metals, worth up to 40,000 yuan ($5,810) from it. This huge profit margin is a magnet for such businesses.

But while offering huge profits to certain people, the “imported” waste contains some materials — including heavy metals such as lead, cadmium and mercury — that are detrimental to the environment, especially soil and underground water. Some of the imported waste contains wastewater that is a health hazard. And the workers who sort such waste are exposed to the toxic materials and thus face health risks.

That is why, as early as 2009, the Ministry of Environmental Protection banned the “import” of particular types of waste. But law enforcement has not been effective because of the lack of coordination among the different law enforcement agencies.

Such coordination should be strengthened to strike at the underground industrial chain that “imports” harmful waste.