Britain has become the latest source found sending waste traffic
into China. It is a fresh reminder of the devastating, but often
understated, export that is transforming China's landscape.
Every year, according to recent media reports, loads of waste
has been transported to China from Britain. It is not a new issue.
The United States and other developed countries have been sending
waste to China for years.
Such exports are possible because of the cost gap between
treating the waste in developed and developing countries, even with
transportation taken into account. Since the 1970s, hazardous waste
from the United States and European countries has been exported to
Africa and South America.
The improper dumping and treatment of waste have often proved
disastrous for the local environment.
The international community has been adequately alarmed by the
recent crisis caused by toxic waste released by a Dutch-based oil
trader in Cote d'Ivoire, causing 10 deaths and thousands of
injuries. Less noticed is the more widespread harm unscrupulous
waste exports have done to numerous places in China and many other
developing countries.
In many southern Chinese villages, dumping and treatment of
waste have contaminated rivers, polluted air and soil.
Such hazardous waste traffic damages Western interests, too. As
the harmed public becomes increasingly disillusioned, the Western
world will see its image tarnished.
Domestic regulators are obliged to be more effective in
distinguishing between hazardous waste and normal commodity
imports.
Otherwise, the public will lose confidence in the regulators'
ability to protect the nation. The environmental crisis in Cote
d'Ivoire should serve as a wake-up call.
At the same time, traders in the West should respect the Basel
Convention on the control of trans-boundary traffic and disposal of
hazardous waste. The convention restricts transfer of harmful waste
by countries which have adequate waste treatment technology. Many
Western traders stealthily export dangerous waste to China under
the disguise of normal trade.
The cost to their countries is damaging long-term, productive
interests for short-term benefits.
(China Daily January 16, 2007)
