It was meant to clear up the problem of electronic waste, but an EU directive on recycling is being flagrantly abused in the
UKOrganised crime has moved into the recycling industry - a development that has become clear over the past few months after a series of raids to enforce the EU's Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) directive .In a raid at the start of June, police and officials from the Environment Agency targeted two east London locations - a farm at Upminster and an industrial site at Rainham - and forced open around 500 containers full of old computers, monitors, fridges and assorted electrical waste destined for illegal export to Africa, where it would be stripped down for raw materials."Our investigations have found that the majority of this equipment is beyond repair and is being stripped down under appalling conditions in Africa. But the law is clear - electrical waste must be recycled in the UK, not sent to developing countries in Africa where unsafe dismantling puts human
health and the environment at risk," said the Environment Agency's national enforcement service project manager, Chris Smith."The Environment Agency has created a national team to stamp out this illegal trade and strong intelligence work has resulted in today's operation - the most significant action to date in investigating suspected electrical waste being shipped to Africa."During the raid, in which 50 people were questioned, other more tell-tale signs of organised crime came to light from the containers: stolen motor
bikes, a cherry-picker crane, a dumper
truck, a suspected illegal immigrant, a steamroller, stolen import documentation and £80,000 worth of vodka and cigarettes.Organised crime's involvement in the scrap metal business is the stuff of Hollywood legend, and its interest in computers has been developing hand in hand with the industry. Computer chips have long been a target for crime gangs, who have even gone so far as breaking into office blocks ...
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