E-waste transboundary movement violating environmental justice

Abstract

This study examined the problems in the transboundary movement of e-waste with respect to the process of the importation and treatment of e-waste (electronic waste), from the point of view of environmental justice. If the relationships between e-waste-exporting countries and -importing countries is considered in terms of their economic interests, various positive factors surface. If the problem is considered from the standpoint of environmental justice, however, both countries are guilty of complicity. In the short-term economic interests, if these are understood in terms of economic justice, e-waste importation is still not recommended; and if it is considered in the context of environmental justice, it is clearly an international criminal act. In this context, this study also suggested why this problem requires another policy, in response to the WTO system that controls international trade.