Why We Must Continue to Crackdown on Global Waste Traders that have Targeted Malaysia
The Basel Action Network (BAN) and Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM) are deeply concerned about criticism that has been levied against the Malaysian government over their courageous crackdown on illegal e-waste recycling operations that have been springing up throughout the country (see “Environment auctioning 15 tons of seized e-waste”, Malaysiakini, 25 February 2025; “Malaysia’s e-waste policy: a case of short-sightedness”, Free Malaysia Today, 25 February 2025; “The malicious narrative of e-waste ‘dumping’ in Malaysia”, Free Malaysia Today, 25 February 2025).
We must be clear – these illegal operations are run by criminal syndicates looking to reap quick and maximum profits, extracting copper, gold and other valuable materials from the scrap, exploiting the most low-cost and vulnerable labour force (often undocumented migrant workers), avoiding any form of pollution control costs, and then illegally dumping the toxic residual material at the lowest cost.
Do not be fooled. There is a reason why China banned the import of electronic waste and plastic waste with their National Sword Policy in 2018.China’s air, water, and soil were rapidly getting contaminated, people were falling sick, agricultural lands were getting destroyed, and the economic damage from this environmental harm far outweighed the returns.
Unfortunately, China did not at the same time forbid their businessmen from moving the same dirty operations abroad, and they came in droves to Southeast Asia, especially Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, and Indonesia.
The region has become the new destination for very toxic, problematic, difficult-to-recycle waste from all over the world; history has proven these will bring more negative consequences than positive value. ASEAN has taken over from China to become the unwitting victims of this so-called “recycling” – which is, in fact, dumping by another name.
Much-needed enforcement action
The Department of Environment (DOE), the Royal Malaysian Customs Department (Customs), the Royal Malaysia Police (police), the Immigration Department of Malaysia, and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) deserve to be commended for their on-going work in keeping the country safe from thesewaste crimes.
All of these agencies are, in fact,ensuring that Malaysia meets her international obligations and implementing a treaty that the global community, led by countries like Malaysia, enacted decades ago in 1989and have steadily continued to enhance through annual meetings.
This global treaty is known as the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal. It forbids the most egregious forms of dumping by industrialised countries that prey on developing or emerging economies by dangling promises of raw materials, and requires signatories to enforce strict control procedures for legitimate recycling and re-use operations.
What the Malaysian government has found running rampant in Malaysia are not legitimate operations by strictly regulated licensed e-waste recyclers. These are a result of criminal activities in illegal trafficking in toxic and other wastes coming from countries like the United States and Japan.
Within Malaysia, we are suddenly, all too conveniently, hearing from some very vocal players that have taken to the media to criticise the rule of law, the government, and especially, the DOE. Their arguments are baseless and either reveal ignorance about the ugly economics of the global waste trade, or intention to be in league with those who perpetuate the dumping and are responsible for the horrendous and irreversible pollution in Malaysia and the serious resultinghealth impacts.
Questionable motivations
Malaysian news outlets have been quoting an “expert” about e-waste policies. Based on his LinkedIn entry, he has experience in the media and hospitality industry and he has been cited as “founder” of an NGO. Meanwhile, another armchair critic has begun publishing a series of “expert opinions” on the issue this month.
They are both dangerously calling for the Malaysian government to lift its ban on e-waste importation, perhaps not realising that to do so would cause Malaysia to violate her obligations under international law.
We initially did not believe it was warranted to engage with such articles full of inaccuracies. However, when 15 such articles have been published across various platforms since August 2024, either directly authored by these “experts” or quoting them, with seven articles published this month alone, it appears we may be witnessing a calculated attack.
Spurious argumentation
The primary argument proffered is that, when there is so much illegal activity, then perhaps the law is the problem and we should just allow the e-waste to flow in, but strictly controlled. The writers opine that, after all, there is a lot of wealth and good that can come from recycling.
In fact, as China discovered years ago and acted decisively upon, the import of electronic and plastic wastes represents a net loss to the country. The only solution is to ban the importation.
Consider this: if the wastes were so valuable and the processing so profitable, why would entrepreneurs with access to capital investment in the United States not build “green” facilities to extract the value cleanly? Why would they let this value go straight to Southeast Asia, now that China no longer accepts the material?
The fact is, most e-waste is of negative or marginal value if the environmental impacts from the recycling process are adequately addressed and carefully mitigated, and the unrecyclable residues are safely managed. Only some portions of the material are economically viable to be recycled. Much of the e-waste smuggled to Malaysia include the plastic housing of the electronic equipment, which is low value and highly likely to contain toxic forever chemicals.
The waste trade from countries like the United States, Malaysia, and now China, exists due to the pollution haven hypothesis – Malaysia has unwittingly offered a pollution haven for operators who extract the value from a limited part of the waste load for their own profits and dump the rest to ensure minimal costs. If they could not dump or pollute with impunity, the profits would dwindle or even disappear.
Updated Basel Convention
The experts of 191 countries of the world figured this out, just as China has done.They are Parties to the Basel Convention, correctly creating strict global controls and prohibitions to level the playing field and foster truly sustainable businesses that do not depend on exploiting weaker economies, legal frameworks, and marginalised communities.
Malaysia embraced these rules after much rigorous debate. In 2025, new rules have come into force to respond to the horrific levels of global dumping and devastating pollution being witnessed. As of this year, all e-waste traded is subject to international controls of prior informed consent, not only those labelled “hazardous wastes”. The Basel Convention is updated, not outdated!
These rules are designed to protect our environment and people. But like any law, without enforcement, it is not worth the paper it is printed on. Malaysia is now providing the necessary enforcement and we should encourage this important and complex work.
We should not pretend to be experts and apologists for the waste traders that chose to collude with mafia-like operators evidently happy to sacrifice our environment and public health to make a quick profit.The consequences are serious –pollution from mismanaged e-waste can cause cancer, affect brain development, disturb endocrine systems, cause birth defects, reduce fertility, and more.
These effects are irreversible and will affect future generations. The Malaysian government is a regional leader in e-waste policy and should uphold the ban on the importation of e-waste.
Jim Puckett
Executive Director
Basel Action Network
Mageswari Sangaralingam
Honorary Secretary
Sahabat Alam Malaysia (Friends of the Earth)
Letter to the Editor, 28 February 2025
This article is co-authored by Jim Puckett, founder of Basel Action Network based in the United States, who has worked for more than 30 years to prevent the dumping of hazardous waste on developing countries, and Mageswari Sangaralingam, Honorary Secretary of Sahabat Alam Malaysia, who has more than 30 years of experience supporting communities affected by toxic chemicals, plastic waste dumping, and pollution.