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View all search resultsWalhi demands re-export of US e-waste from Batam
Destorying e-waste here is as a form of transferring the pollution load to Indonesian territory and weakening the sovereignty of environmental law enforcement.
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Two tug boats pull a cargo ship on Jan. 20, carrying four contianers holding hazardous e-waste to the United States at Batu Ampar Port in Batam, Riau Islands. The port previously held 914 containers holding hazardous and toxic containers that had to be re-exported to its country of origin, the United States. (Courtesy of Batam Customs and Excise Office/-)
T
he Indonesian Forum on Environment (Walhi) strongly denounced the government’s decision to destroy hazardous and toxic electronic waste and demanded it be re-exported to the United States.
The move was considered a form of transferring the pollution load to Indonesian territory and weakening the sovereignty of environmental law enforcement.
Walhi chairman Boy Jerry Even Sembiring said that the decision was incorrect and smeared Indonesia’s commitment to maintain environmental sustainability. He said the import of the 914 containers should be responded with a strict action of re-exporting them to the country of origin.
“The Environment Protection and Management Law and the Basel Convention, which Indonesia ratified, ban the entry of hazardous and toxic waste to Indonesia’s territory,” he told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.
“Based on the polluter pays principle, the illegal waste must be returned to the US and not destroyed here.”
Destroying the waste here lets the polluting country of origin shirk its responsibility, he added. The step neglected international responsibility and made Indonesia absorb environmental impacts from economic activity in developed countries.
Indonesia previously immediately re-exported 49 containers carrying toxic and hazardous goods in 2019 from Australia, the US and several European countries when they arrived at Batu Ampar Port in Batam.
