An analysis shows alarming ground contamination from e-scrap processing in the world’s second most-populous country, and Hong Kong officials learn about e-scrap-related prosecutions.
Hong Kong: Elected officials received an update on e-scrap regulations in Hong Kong, including enforcement figures for 2016 and producer responsibility rules that will go into effect at the end of 2017. A transcription of the report by the environment secretary indicates there were 24 individuals prosecuted for hazardous e-scrap processing last year, 16 of whom were convicted.
India: New analyses of soil samples in New Delhi, Mumbai and five other Indian cities have revealed the concentration of PCBs in the ground is nearly twice the global average. The Hindustan Times reports on the results, noting that researchers attribute the higher numbers in part to “crude e-waste recycling processes and open burning of municipal waste.”
India: Also in India, multiple pollution control agencies will begin conducting inspections of sites where e-scrap is openly burned. According to the Times of India, the inspections will target the banks of the Ramganga River in Moradabad, where a past unannounced inspection found illegal e-scrap processing was rampant and waste was being dumped into the river.
