Little Thai Hazardous Junk Receives Treatment to Minimise Environmental Harm.

Oct. 1--Used washing machines or computers that cost only a few thousand baht each might seem like a bargain. But when the equipment is discarded, it becomes hazardous waste requiring another 30 years of costly monitoring to ensure it is not harmful to the environment.

About 2,000 tonnes of used electronic products and electrical appliances are disposed of annually in Thailand, industry sources say.

However, only 100 tonnes are processed properly by General Waste Treatment Environmental Conservation Plc (Genco), the country's only licensed operator of disposal systems.

That means the remaining waste is either dumped or otherwise disposed of improperly, with a high risk of environmental contamination.

The flow into Thailand of second-hand electronic goods and electrical appliances, overwhelmingly from developed countries, particularly European nations and Japan, has not been ...