Seven licensed e-waste plants caught handling smuggled waste
KUALA LUMPUR: Seven of the 57 premises raided in the recent crackdown on illegal e-waste processing were found to have valid licenses.
Environment Department Enforcement Division Director Rosli Zul said investigations revealed that although the seven premises held valid licenses, they were believed to have been processing smuggled e-waste.
"Malaysia is party to the Basel Convention, and one of the provisions under this convention is that we cannot receive e-waste from abroad for processing locally.
"We have 156 licensed e-waste processing plants nationwide and these plants are only supposed to be processing e-waste of domestic origin," he told reporters today.
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Ops Hazard 2.0: Seven premises licensed to process e-waste probed for smuggling materials from overseas
KUALA LUMPUR: Seven premises licensed to process e-waste are being investigated for allegedly bringing in e-waste from overseas illegally. Department of Environment (DOE) enforcement division director Rosli Zul said that based on investigations conducted on 57 premises raided in Ops Hazard 2.0, seven of them had legitimate licenses to process e-waste. "However, we discovered that there were some e-waste materials believed to have been smuggled from overseas. "We have to investigate further. If it is true, then it is a very serious violation," he told a press conference in Bukit Aman on Thursday (June 19). He said Malaysia was one of the countries targeted by international syndicates as a destination to send illegal e-waste. "More than 600 containers have been detected in Port Klang. The items were declared as recyclable items, but it is instead e-waste. "Most of the illegal e-waste factories in the country do not use environmental control mechanisms; thus, the pollution permitted from the processing is highly dangerous," he added.
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2,000 metric tonnes of illegal e-waste collected in Ops Hazard 2.0, says Environment Department
KUALA LUMPUR: Some 2,000 metric tonnes of illegal e-waste were seized in Ops Hazard 2.0, says the Environment Department. Its enforcement division director, Rosli Zul, said the department also issued equipment seizure orders on 24 premises raided during the special operation. "It was done per Section 38(1)(a) of the Environmental Quality Act 1974 (Act 127) for operating machinery without any pollution control systems. "We also issued 59 directives under Sections 31 and 37 of the Act, while 18 compounds were issued for various violations of the Environmental Quality (Scheduled Wastes) Regulations 2005," he told a press conference in Bukit Aman on Thursday (June 19). Rosli said investigations have been opened into 25 premises for various offences, including failure to comply with license conditions and operating unlicensed scheduled waste storage facilities. "Other offences detected were failure to obtain written approval from the department's director-general, failure to submit an Environmental Impact Assessment report and disposal of scheduled waste without proper approval. 'These illegal activities not only break the law but pose serious threats to human health and the environment due to the potential release of hazardous pollutants into the air, water, and soil,' he said. Many of the illegal operations were found in remote areas and outside approved industrial zones, making enforcement and monitoring more difficult, and increasing risks for enforcement officers, Rosli said. He stressed that any management of scheduled waste, including e-waste, without proper approval from the director-general is a serious offence " Under the latest amendments to the Environmental Quality Act (Amendment) 2024, offenders now face fines of up to RM10mil and jail terms of up to five years if convicted," he added. Ops Hazard 2.0 was recently conducted, involving various agencies led by the police's General Operations Force.
New Straits Times
4 days ago
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Seven licensed e-waste plants caught handling smuggled waste
KUALA LUMPUR: Seven of the 57 premises raided in the recent crackdown on illegal e-waste processing were found to have valid licenses. Environment Department Enforcement Division Director Rosli Zul said investigations revealed that although the seven premises held valid licenses, they were believed to have been processing smuggled e-waste. "Malaysia is party to the Basel Convention, and one of the provisions under this convention is that we cannot receive e-waste from abroad for processing locally. "We have 156 licensed e-waste processing plants nationwide and these plants are only supposed to be processing e-waste of domestic origin," he told reporters today.
