The head of a United Nations (UN) initiative launched last week to create a global electronic waste recycling standard has admitted the scheme must overcome major challenges if it is to be a success.

The Solving the E-Waste Problem (Step) project will take years to ensure all the gaps are filled in the illegal trade of e-waste, according to Ruediger Kuehr, executive secretary of the project.

‘A lot of products are categorised for reuse and end up being improperly recycled in
the developing world,’ he told Computing. ‘In the short term there is no appropriate solution because this is such a comprehensive problem. To police this at every stage of the chain is an almost impossible thing to do.’

Ensuring that waste taken to developing countries is recycled as promised, and not dumped in landfills, is a major challenge.

Before a standard can be enforced all the correct processes need to be in place in developing countries.

‘It is easy to ban e-waste trade, but it is very difficult to implement it practically because customs officers need to be qualified to do the testing. That means educating customs around the world to recognise what e-waste is and looks like, and that could take some time,’ said Kuehr.

The European Environmental Agency calculates that the volume of electronic rubbish is rising about three times faster than other forms of municipal waste. The total annual global volume of e-waste is expected to reach about 40 million metric tonnes.

The EU Waste Electronic and Electrical Equipment Directive became law on 1 January this year, making businesses and suppliers legally responsiblefor disposing e-waste in an environmentally-friendly way. UK businesses must comply with it by 1 July.

Jim Tully, chief of research at analyst Gartner, believes Step will do little more than alert people to the issue of recycling electronic rubbish.

‘This will raise awareness, but the UN has no power to do anything,’ he said. ‘All it can do is recommend legislation to governments. If it is not passed in certain countries, then the illegal trade in e-waste will just gravitate to those countries.’