e-Waste transboundary movement regulations in various jurisdictions

The growing volumes of electrical and electronic waste (e-waste), alongside their potential to be valuable resource or harmful pollutants, have made this waste stream an important subject of research, legislation, and policymaking. E-waste management comprises a series of activities, some of which are profitable and some of which are not. The current regulations in place exist in an attempt to ensure the unprofitable (but necessary) activities are undertaken in a sound manner (safe to humans and to the environment) and to state whom the stakeholder responsible for such activities are. The responsibility and financial liability may fall under the manufacturer (polluter-pay principle), the government, the consumer, or a combination of different stakeholders, and this varies widely from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. There are currently a set of international, national, and regional legislations/treaties that oversee the movement and management of e-waste. The most notorious international treaty is the Basel Convention, which is 30 years old, ineffective and contains known loopholes that allow disguised e-waste export as equipment for repair. In the national and regional scope, legislation concerning e-waste can vary widely, even within a single country-like in the case of China, Canada, and the USA. The lack of unity in legislation, or at least a set of regulations design to be collaborative with each other, is one of the current challenges worldwide. The use of conformity verification systems (e.g. WEEELABEX), a standardized universal extended producer responsibility policy or a significant update on the (outdated) international treaties, may be a solution, but it seems that the world is far from reaching these milestones. Finally, China's recent ban has affected the global WEEE market, which, in turn, has affected the regulatory framework of other Southeast Asian nations. More changes are expected in the near future due to the cascading effect of these changes and further import bans already announced by China.