‘There is no other option’

Indonesia is cracking down on dangerous, unnecessary imports from the United States and has formally begun sending them back, the South China Morning Post reported.

what’s going on

Authorities in the port city of Batam recently exported four shipping containers of banned e-waste back to the US.

Four containers isn’t a lot, but Indonesian officials insist the shipment was the tip of the iceberg.

According to the SCMP, customs staff and inspectors from Indonesia’s Ministry of Environment and Forestry discovered an unknown number of shipments “allegedly misdeclared as recyclable materials” in September.

In fact, the containers housed hazardous electronic waste, or e-waste. That discovery prompted an Oct. 3 statement by Environment Minister Hanif Faisol Nurofiq.

“The government will not tolerate attempts to turn Indonesia into a dumping ground or a processing site for illegal waste from abroad,” Hanif vowed, per SCMP.

Port officials said the container, which contained computer parts, disks and circuit boards, represented only a “small fraction” of illegal waste imports. The Post cited local media reports that more than 900 containers were marked for review.

To date, “dozens” of containers have been inspected and “confirmed to contain illegal electronic waste,” per SCMP. Batam Customs chief Zaki Firmansyah said all imported e-waste would be sent back to its country of origin – which was the US, in the case of the first four.

“All containers carrying hazardous and toxic waste must be re-exported. There is no other option,” Firmansyah said.

Why is this relevant?

Rich countries have long exported their worst waste, especially e-waste and plastics, in an “out of sight, out of mind” approach to consumption.

In 2018, China – which has long imported waste for manufacturing – banned the import of 24 categories of waste, including plastics.

In 2022, Earth.org reported that the ban had “immediate and widespread implications and a major problem for the global recycling industry”, which displaced millions of tons of plastic waste. As a result, the overflow was re-routed to other countries in Southeast Asia, triggering further import restrictions.

Although this problem may appear to be a logistical problem at first glance, overconsumption and increasing volumes of hazardous waste were underlying issues.

In October 2024, the World Health Organization warned that e-waste is one of the “fastest growing solid waste streams” worldwide, with 62 million tons generated in 2022. A small 22.3% was “formally documented as collection and recycling.”

E-waste often contains toxic compounds, industrial chemicals, and hazardous heavy metals, and the general public is often unaware that it should be disposed of properly. As a result, hazardous e-waste is routinely mixed with household waste and sent to landfills.

Landfill e-waste releases these substances into the soil, air and groundwater, contaminating them.

Furthermore, single-use e-waste like disposable vapors can be volatile, with lithium-ion batteries causing fires in garbage trucks and in waste processing facilities.

What is happening for this?

In October, Hanif warned that Indonesia intends to prosecute the perpetrators despite enforcement challenges.

On a personal level, knowing how to properly dispose of waste, especially e-waste, can help prevent the risks it poses to the planet and its inhabitants.

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