{"id":322183,"date":"2026-02-05T19:47:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-05T19:47:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/322183\/"},"modified":"2026-02-05T19:47:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-05T19:47:07","slug":"not-a-dumping-ground-for-the-world-malaysia-announces-immediate-ban-on-e-waste-imports","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/322183\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;Not a dumping ground for the world&#8217;: Malaysia announces immediate ban on e-waste imports"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>  By&amp;nbsp<a href=\"https:\/\/www.euronews.com\/profiles\/2562\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Angela Symons<\/a>&amp;nbspwith&amp;nbsp<b>AP<\/b><\/p>\n<p>\n         Published on<br \/>\n            05\/02\/2026 &#8211; 7:55 GMT+1\n            <\/p>\n<p>Malaysia has announced an immediate and full ban on the importation of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.euronews.com\/my-europe\/2026\/01\/09\/repair-and-reuse-inside-europes-refurbished-tech-market\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>electronic waste<\/strong><\/a>, as the government vowed the country would not be a \u201cdumping ground\u201d for the world.<\/p>\n<p>The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission said in a statement late Wednesday (4 February) that all electronic waste, commonly known as e-waste, would be reclassified under the \u201cabsolute prohibition\u201d category effective immediately. This removes the discretionary power previously given to the Department of Environment to grant exemptions for importation of certain e-waste.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cE-waste is no longer permitted,\u201d MACC chief Azam Baki said in the statement, vowing \u201cfirm and integrated enforcement action\u201d to prevent <a href=\"https:\/\/www.euronews.com\/green\/2024\/06\/04\/war-on-waste-how-the-eu-is-tackling-illegal-shipments-to-developing-countries\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>illegal imports<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Malaysia has previously grappled with large volumes of imported e-waste, much of it suspected to be illegal and hazardous to human health and the environment. Authorities have seized hundreds of containers of suspected <a href=\"https:\/\/www.euronews.com\/my-europe\/2025\/08\/22\/watch-the-video-which-countries-are-littering-europe-with-electronic-waste-instead-of-recl\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>e-waste<\/strong><\/a> at ports in recent years and issued notices for return to exporters.<\/p>\n<p>E-waste can pollute soil and water resources<\/p>\n<p>Environmental advocates have long urged stronger action. E-waste \u2013 discarded electronic products such as computers, phones and appliances \u2013 can contain toxic substances and heavy metals including lead, mercury and cadmium that pollute soil and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.euronews.com\/green\/2026\/01\/14\/eu-cracks-down-on-forever-chemicals-with-new-protections-for-drinking-water-what-will-chan\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>water resources<\/strong><\/a> if improperly processed or dumped.<\/p>\n<p>The ban comes as authorities widen a corruption inquiry tied to e-waste management. Last week, the MACC detained and remanded the director-general of the environment department and his deputy over alleged abuse of power and corruption involving e-waste oversight. The probe has also seen authorities freeze bank accounts and seize cash linked to the case.<\/p>\n<p>The Home Ministry in a social media post on Wednesday vowed the government would bolster efforts to combat the smuggling of e-waste into the country.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMalaysia is not a dumping ground for the world&#8217;s waste,\u201d it said. \u201cE-waste is not just garbage but a serious threat to the environment, people&#8217;s health and national security.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By&amp;nbspAngela Symons&amp;nbspwith&amp;nbspAP Published on 05\/02\/2026 &#8211; 7:55 GMT+1 Malaysia has announced an immediate and full ban on the&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":322184,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[269],"tags":[18,15324,440,19,1916,17,3476,2375,133,4434,155422],"class_list":["post-322183","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-eire","tag-electronic-waste","tag-environment","tag-ie","tag-illegal","tag-ireland","tag-pollution","tag-recycling","tag-science","tag-southeast-asia","tag-toxic-waste"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116019753416046563","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/322183","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=322183"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/322183\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/322184"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=322183"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=322183"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=322183"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}