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Technology companies increasingly have been adopting environment-friendly initiatives but some serious problems continue.

 In October 1997, Hong Kong turned away a shipment of three containers of hazardous computer scrap from Australia.

 Due to less stringent dumping laws, it often is cheaper for waste producers in developed countries to dump their waste in Asia. Hong Kong is used as a transshipment point for waste going to the mainland.

 Electrical and electronic scrap - including computers - is considered hazardous by the International Basel Convention Technical Working Group because it contains many hazardous substances, including PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls), lead and cadmium.

 PCBs, which are found in capacitors and transformers, are known to cause skin complaints, liver damage, suppression of the immune system and damage to the nervous and reproductive systems. They also have been linked with a decline in some bird species and reduced reproduction in sea mammals.

 Greenpeace has warned that Asia is becoming a popular dumping ground for old computers from more developed countries.

 At the end of 1998, the Hong Kong Government introduced a ban on the importation of prescribed hazardous waste from developed countries.

 Local computer users are having trouble disposing of old computers. Only one of five major Hong Kong PC vendors was able to provide details of a recycling programme.

 Acer began a trade-in programme in August and since then has had up to 10 trade-in customers per month.

 Old machines were checked and if parts were usable, they were kept as spares. The rest was sent to a company that specialised in recycling PC materials, an Acer spokesman said.

 Compaq Computer, IBM, Dell Computer and Hewlett-Packard said they did not have programmes to collect old PCs in Hong Kong.

 There were no legislative controls over the disposal of most computer parts, such as metal frames and plastic cases, as they were considered non-hazardous and recyclable, the Environmental Protection Department (EPD) said.

 But some parts - such as batteries and activated glass from monitors - are classified as chemical waste, the disposal of which is controlled by the Waste Disposal Ordinance.

 As a result, companies must register as a chemical waste producer and employ a licensed chemical-waste collector to transport and dispose of the waste at a licensed site.

 According EPD records, more than 100 companies involved in computing equipment, electronic parts and equipment and battery production have registered as chemical-waste producers.

 The only disposal facility licensed to receive waste batteries and monitors in bulk is the southeast New Territories landfill in Tseung Kwan O.

 Landfills for the disposal of chemical waste had additional design, construction and operational requirements, said an EPD spokesman.



Why Asia is the dump for others' computer scrap