US e-waste exports flood Southeast Asia in billion-dollar surge

A report by the Basel Action Network reveals that millions of tons of electronic waste from the United States are being exported to Southeast Asia, where many countries lack the infrastructure to safely manage hazardous materials. This "invisible tsunami" of e-waste, largely facilitated by American brokers and recycling firms, involves shipping containers often misclassified to disguise their contents, with Malaysia and neighboring nations as primary destinations. The hazardous waste includes toxic substances like lead and mercury, posing serious environmental and health risks when improperly processed, often in informal scrapyards without adequate protections. Despite stringent e-waste laws globally, the U.S. remains the only industrialized nation not to ratify the Basel Convention, enabling continued illegal exports. Authorities in Thailand and Malaysia have increased efforts to curb these imports, seizing tons of containers, but the trade persists, driven by lucrative profits for the electronics recycling sector. The global e-waste problem is growing rapidly, with the UN projecting worldwide generation could reach 82 million tons by 2030, exacerbating environmental degradation in developing regions.