The United Nations’ (UN’s) e-waste project is a major advance in addressing the problem of computer hardware disposal. Environmental issues have international implications and require truly global solutions.

Under Europe’s Waste Electronic and Electrical Equipment (Weee) directive, which comes into force in the UK in July, manufacturers will be responsible for the environmentally-friendly disposal of their obsolete products.

But while unscrupulous dealers are charging a fee for supposedly recycling or reusing hardware and then shipping it to developing countries to be illegally dumped in landfill sites, regulations governing disposal may only shift the problem from one part of the world to another.

The UN project aims to establish the extent of the problem, and then consider how to ensure propriety throughout the recycling chain. It is to be welcomed.

But there are also significant obstacles to be overcome. The first is practical. As even the executive secretary running the UN project acknowledges, the ultimate aim of a disposal accreditation scheme may prove impossible to police on a global scale. Such a plan to work in practice relies on the absolute credibility of its kitemark. If the project goes ahead before the practicalities are satisfactorily addressed it may do more harm than good.

The second danger is attitudinal. Giant, worldwide initiatives must not be allowed to deflect attention from the individual actions and accountabilities needed to make a real difference. We must avoid a situation where the buck can be passed ever upwards, further away from where the real responsibility lies, because the work of some larger, grander group can be used as an excuse for inactivity.

The UN initiative is laudable, and the involvement of major technology industry players such as HP, Microsoft and Cisco Systems is to be applauded.

But no organisation, however international, has the magic bullet. The soluti ons to environmental problems will take time, and they remain the responsibility of all.