EPA TO INCLUDE E-WASTE ON LIST OF HAZARDOUS PRODUCTS (BACK PAGE)

THE Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is harmonising three international protocols on the trans-border movement of hazardous waste to include e-waste from computers.
The three chemical-related conventions on the movement of hazardous waste and its disposal are the Basel, the Stockholm and the Rotterdam protocols.
Harmonising these protocols and conventions, which Ghana has ratified at the international level, will enable the EPA to localise and enforce them to regulate the inflow of e-waste.
The Public Relations Officer of the EPA, Mr William Abaidoo, told the Daily Graphic in that the e-waste chemicals, which could be found in computers, digital cameras, mobile phones and used television and radio sets, posed a danger to health.
He said some ozone-depleting chemicals formed majority of the e-waste, including lead, cadmium, mercury and fire retardants, adding that when humans were exposed to them, it could have very serious health consequences, including cancer.
He said cancer-causing agents and pollutants such as lead had been found by researchers to affect the intelligent quotient of children, with serious consequences.
Mr Abaidoo said because of the health hazards, the agency had sought the technical assistance of the Netherlands government to develop the harmonised guidelines to meet international standards.
He said institutions such as the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority, the Customs, Excise and Preventive Service and the Ghana Standards Board had been involved in the preparation of the guidelines to be enforced.
He said the collaboration would also look into the partnership between the private and public sectors with the view to generating employment in the electronic sector, since not all the second-hand electronic goods coming into the country contained e-waste materials.
He explained that the guidelines sought to differentiate between second-hand goods that could be cannibalised and used to repair broken-down computers and those that were complete waste and could not be permitted to enter the country.