BIMP-EAGA leaders want e-waste facility in growth areas

DAVAO CITY , Philippines  â€“ Leaders of the economic cooperation initiative Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and Philippines-East ASEAN (BIMP-EAGA) are pushing for the establishment of an electronic waste (e-waste) disposal facility within the subregion.

E-wastes are waste electronic equipment, which pose health and pollution problems due to their high content of metallic and combustible contaminants.

According to the United Nations Environment Program, around 50 to 80 percent of the e-waste collected from industrialized countries end up in India, Pakistan, Vietnam, Africa, China and the Philippines.

Even in highly developed countries, the recycling and disposal of e-wastes involve significant risks to workers and communities, requiring utmost care to avoid hazardous exposure during disposal and recycling operations.

For these reasons, the officials of BIMP-EAGA forged an agreement for the establishment of an e-waste facility in the subregion during a seminar on e-waste management held recently in China. The e-waste facility shall be a joint endeavor between the environment cluster and information and communication technology sector of the BIMP-EAGA component nations. 

“The initial goal is to establish an e-waste facility for the EAGA region and China’s interest in providing us technical assistance will help pave the way for the implementation of this project,” said Ernie Tomas of the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA), who participated in the seminar organized by China’s Ministry of Commerce.

“Our visit to China reinforced our resolve to identify green technology projects and actively push for the development of sustainable green technologies within the BIMP-EAGA region. We tend to change electronic gadgets and appliances more frequently now and most of us are not aware that improper disposal of these wastes can cause hazardous impact to our environment,” he added.

He also said that countries in EAGA need a lot of catching up in terms of achieving a sustainably green ICT and the establishment of an e-waste facility is a good start in achieving such goal.