Over 400 containers of e-waste, plastic  scrap at Bangkok Port to be pushed back

By The Nation 

 

The Customs Department has seized and will push back more than 400 containers containing electronic waste and plastic scrap at Bangkok Port, department spokesman Chaiyuth Kamkun said on Tuesday.

 

 The department has seized four containers of e-waste – declared as metal scrap – shipped from the United States, he said. 

 

Eighty-nine containers of plastic scrap have also just arrived at Bangkok Port, also known as Khlong Toei Port. 

 

There are another 339 containers already parked at the port, bringing the total to 428 containers of plastic waste awaiting customs clearance, the spokesman said. 

 

These containers were shipped from many countries and territories, including China, Japan, the US, the United Kingdom, Hong Kong and Singapore, Chaiyuth said. 

 

If importers are found to be violating import and environmental rules, they have to ship these containers back to their ports of origin, he explained.

 

The has launched a campaign against e-waste and other toxic garbage exported to Thailand following communities’ complaints about toxic gases leaking from factories that operate the illegal recycling of e-waste.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/breakingnews/30348683

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2018-6-26

Can't blame Thailand for not wanting to be the first world's dumping ground.  But they need to get their house in order too as far as plastics and waste go.  We all do.

 

400 e-waste containers abandoned at ports

By ACHARA WISETSRI 
THE NATION 

 

 

IMPORTERS FAIL TO HIT COLLECTION DEADLINE AMID CRACKDOWN ON ILLEGAL HANDLING

 

ABOUT 400 cargo containers full of electronic waste, plastic scrap and discarded metal have been left unclaimed at Thailand’s two major ports as authorities crack down on illegal e-waste handling.

 

If they are not claimed within the next 15 days, the Customs Department will either dispose of them or send them back to their point of departure. Most of them come from the United States, Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong and China. 

 

“Importers have already failed to claim these containers within the 30-day timeframe but we will give them 15 more days,” Customs Department spokesman Chaiyut Kumkun said yesterday. 

 

He said the next normal step would be to inform the export transportation firms involved that no one had claimed the containers they had sent to the Thai ports. 

 

“It’s the duty of these firms to contact importers and tell them to claim the containers within 15 days,” Chaiyut said. 

He added that beyond that deadline, items inside containers could be seized, disposed of or sent back. 

 

“If they are sent back, the [export] firms will have to cover the transportation cost. If they are disposed of, either the transportation firm or importers will have to shoulder the expense arising from the disposal,” he said. 

 

At present, there are a total of 428 containers of e-waste, plastic scrap and discarded metal pieces at the Bangkok Port. Of them, 100 are unclaimed. In addition, there are about 1,000 containers of e-waste, plastic scrap and discarded metal pieces at the Laem Chabang Port. Of these, 300 are unclaimed. 

 

Chaiyut suspected that importers had not come forward because they were afraid of recent intense scrutiny and strict law enforcement against firms engaged in unlawful e-waste disposal. 

 

Imports suspended

 

E-waste has caught the spotlight after police found many plants had disposed of such waste using substandard methods, polluting the environment and causing health risks. 

 

Industrial Works Department’s deputy director general Banjong Sukreeta said his department had suspended the import of e-waste since June 22. 

 

Rayong discovery

 

Meanwhile, police and officials yesterday inspected a 10-rai plot in Tambon Map Yang Porn, Rayong, after public complaints of unauthorised burying of hazardous garbage in Pluak Daeng district. 

 

 National police deputy chief Pol General Wirachai Songmetta led the group as a backhoe dug a five-metre-deep hole, releasing a stench that prompted them to quickly don their face masks.

 

The excavation uncovered a 100m x 400m wide landfill that was about 15 metres deep, with black wastewater oozing out, sending a foul smell from some 60,000 tonnes of garbage. 

 

Wirachai said an aerial inspection around this illegal dump site also found that wastewater had leaked into the Dok Krai Reservoir which was the source of tap water supply for Rayong and Chon Buri residents.

 

He said police would summon the landlord for questioning and request Rayong Industrial Office to co-ordinate with related agencies to test garbage samples to determine the types of hazardous materials that may be at the site.

 

Full story: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30348684

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2018-06-27

Shame Thailand can't do businesses correctly,

It's a missed opportunity. 

But greedy Somchai, would just cut corners to maximize profits

Endanger his work force, pollute the area and so on, and so on. 

So maybe better it goes back.

 "will either dispose of them or send them back to their point of departure."

Can't exactly see these being shipped back to their origin....freight still has to be paid....

Therefore, the former, I'm sure would be snapped up by their mates!

 

 

 

Excerpt [Quote:]   ...

“It’s the duty of these firms to contact importers and tell them to claim the containers within 15 days,” Chaiyut said. 

He added that beyond that deadline, items inside containers could be seized, disposed of or sent back...

 

 

his tea money clubs would love this 'seized' - for Trash'n'Treasure exploring

 

3 hours ago, webfact said:

Chaiyut suspected that importers had not come forward because they were afraid of recent intense scrutiny and strict law enforcement against firms engaged in unlawful e-waste disposal. 

 

 

lol - they are afraid of law enforcement ...

seems they did neither care about harming the environment nor fear the law.. Good if this changes and hopefully they will have to pay dearly and/or go to prison

 

3 hours ago, webfact said:

the Customs Department will either dispose of them or send them back to their point of departure

dispose of them? doing the same what the criminals planned to do?

Send the poison back !

Shipped back?Outside territorial waters cut a hole in the containers and over the side!!

Job done!!Before they decide to ship them back better make sure what i wrote will not happen.

 

5 minutes ago, jvs said:

Shipped back?Outside territorial waters cut a hole in the containers and over the side!!

Job done!!Before they decide to ship them back better make sure what i wrote will not happen.

 

The big blue bin,  is jolly useful some times  

Those people behind these companies importing toxic plastic have pocketed somuch money..

13 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

Over 400 containers of e-waste, plastic  scrap to be pushed back

That will be a body blow to those bent politicians and local authorities who have been caught out being involved in this e-waste scam. It should always be remembered it was PM Prayut who approved many legal factories without environment approval in 2016 using Article 44. That didn't help.

It was recently reported that some national politicians are being investigated for being involved in illegal e-waste recycling by the Chinese.

Now it seems they have realised the seriousness of the problem and intend shutting down ALL factories, legal or otherwise.

 

4 hours ago, webfact said:

the Customs Department will either dispose of them

Shippers: "go ahead, that's why they were sent to Thailand."

4 hours ago, webfact said:

send them back to their point of departure

 

4 hours ago, webfact said:

the [export] firms will have to cover the transportation cost.

That would be Thai export firms-doubt they'll willingly pay the return transportation cost.

(A) I could see importers arguing that they believed the contents to be legal and that it was the e-waste companies that made representations to that effect. So no liability for them. But see (D).

(B) Exporter firms, if they are not the same firm as the importer, might argue that they have no control or responsibility of what is imported. Why should they pay for return of containers?  

(C) If exporter firms are the same firm as the importer firm, see (A).

(D) If the importer lacks the required permits, it could be held liable.

(E) The Thai government might not have legal foundation to hold any firm liable if permit requirements were met. The 1997 the Basel Convention aimed to control trans-boundary movements of hazardous waste does not completely prohibit these exports from more developed to less developed countries.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-thailand-pollution-ewaste/thailand-is-new-dumping-ground-for-worlds-high-tech-trash-police-say-idUSKCN1IV0T9

New Thai laws may be necessary to stop e-waste imports. China did this last year; hence, the redirection to Thailand. What happen to China's 'love thy ASEAN neighbor'?

 

3 hours ago, ChrisY1 said:

 "will either dispose of them or send them back to their point of departure."

Can't exactly see these being shipped back to their origin....freight still has to be paid....

Therefore, the former, I'm sure would be snapped up by their mates!

If they are illegal then the importers should be made to pay. And prosecute the department receivers of the Brown or White envelopes to close their eyes.

Government should control this and not work on the WHO YOU KNOW.

It is obviously the Customs departments.

26 minutes ago, shaurene said:

If they are illegal then the importers should be made to pay. And prosecute the department receivers of the Brown or White envelopes to close their eyes.

Government should control this and not work on the WHO YOU KNOW.

It is obviously the Customs departments.

This sounds reasonable. It may get a bit complicated with the Customs Department having to return the envelopes they received from the crooked politicians and the Chinese for allowing them in the first place. That won't go down well and may need some tricky envelope re-shuffling..

Then what happens to the containers? I wonder do they just sit around forever on a vacant lot like the blue buses and the fire engines.

Edited June 27, 20188 yr by Cadbury

16 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

The has launched a campaign against e-waste and other toxic garbage exported to Thailand following communities’ complaints about toxic gases leaking from factories that operate the illegal recycling of e-waste.

 

Are these "factories" in Thailand still operating? Or are these factories elsewhere?

1 hour ago, Cadbury said:

This sounds reasonable. It may get a bit complicated with the Customs Department having to return the envelopes they received from the crooked politicians and the Chinese for allowing them in the first place. That won't go down well and may need some tricky envelope re-shuffling..

Then what happens to the containers? I wonder do they just sit around forever on a vacant lot like the blue buses and the fire engines.

"Then what happens to the containers? I wonder do they just sit around forever on a vacant lot like the blue buses and the fire engines."

 

Hopefully they will be returned to their country of origin.

9 hours ago, stanleycoin said:

Shame Thailand can't do businesses correctly,

It's a missed opportunity. 

But greedy Somchai, would just cut corners to maximize profits

Endanger his work force, pollute the area and so on, and so on. 

So maybe better it goes back.

This could have been a lucrative Industry for Thailand, but as stated there is no way of controlling this stuff, from the day it touches Thai soil, it will be a Cluster f*^k .

So i guess as nobody claims it, it will all end up in the sea