Chapter 6. Electronic Waste Management in the Asia Pacific Region

Abstract

The Asia-Pacific region, also referred to as APAC, describes more than 50 countries in East and South Asia, Southeast Asia and Oceania. In 2013 the total population of APAC stood at 4.3 billion, almost 60% of the world's population. APAC includes the two most populous countries, China and India. Economic growth has seen the region experience a steep growth in both the consumption of electrical and electronic products and in the generation of electronic waste (e-waste). The export of e-waste emerged as an international issue in the early 2000s, following the exposure of crude, unsophisticated e-waste recycling practices in many, particularly developing, countries, including countries in the APAC region. As a complex and relatively recent waste stream, countries worldwide, including countries in APAC, have been introducing specific legislation to enforce sound environmental treatment of e-waste. As yet, only a minority of states have national and regional e-waste legislation in force, effective management requires the active engagement of a diverse set of actors, often spanning national borders. Many APAC countries are now implementing or contemplating restrictions or bans on the importation of e-waste, an action that is likely to have far-ranging consequences for the global movement of e-waste (principally from developed to developing nations) that has hitherto been the mainstay of e-waste management.