Europe increases illegal exports of toxic waste

Europe’s exports of illegal hazardous waste to developing countries are on the rise, according to a new report by the European Environment Agency.

The report, “Waste Without Borders in the EU”, states that statistics from EU member countries “show a growing number of illegal shipments.

Illegal waste that gets reported is just the tip of the iceberg, the report said, and the real problem could be much bigger.

“It is expected that reported cases represent a fraction of the actual number and that the number of illegal shipments is considerable,” the report reads.

Many discarded TV sets are illegally shipped to Africa where they are sold as second hand goods or dumped as waste for scrap.

Lagos, Nigeria, is one of the main destinations for the waste.

‘Scavenger children’ in the city spend their days in the toxic waste searching for microchips, motherboards and cathode tube hubs they can melt down and sell.

In a typical 45 minute search, they will have found enough metal to earn about 60p.

“It would appear that the EU exports a significant quantity of used electrical and electronic products to developing countries that do not have an adequate waste management infrastructure,” the report reads.

It calls for the EU to put more controls in place to ensure that this ’serious problem’ is dealt with.

“Sufficient control and inspection of transboundary shipments of waste are important tools if the number of illegal shipments is to be reduced,” the report concludes.