{"id":272141,"date":"2026-02-07T09:38:15","date_gmt":"2026-02-07T09:38:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/272141\/"},"modified":"2026-02-07T09:38:15","modified_gmt":"2026-02-07T09:38:15","slug":"malaysia-bans-e-waste-imports-ap-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/272141\/","title":{"rendered":"Malaysia bans e-waste imports | AP News"},"content":{"rendered":"

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) \u2014 Malaysia<\/a> has announced an immediate and full ban on the importation of electronic waste<\/a>, as the government vowed the country would not be a \u201cdumping ground\u201d for the world\u2019s waste.<\/p>\n

The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission said in a statement late Wednesday 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

Environmental advocates have long urged stronger action. E-waste \u2014 discarded electronic products such as computers, phones and appliances \u2014 can contain toxic substances and heavy metals including lead, mercury and cadmium that pollute soil and water resources if improperly processed or dumped.<\/p>\n

\u201cE-waste is no longer permitted,\u201d MACC chief Azam Baki said in the statement, vowing \u201cfirm and integrated enforcement action\u201d to prevent illegal imports.<\/p>\n

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 e-waste at ports in recent years and issued notices for return to exporters.<\/p>\n

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

The Home Ministry in a social media post Wednesday vowed the government would bolster efforts to combat the smuggling of e-waste into the country.<\/p>\n

\u201cMalaysia is not a dumping ground for the world\u2019s waste,\u201d it said. \u201cE-waste is not just garbage but a serious threat to the environment, people\u2019s health and national security.\u201d<\/p>\n

Neighboring Indonesia has also pushed back against attempts to ship toxic electronic waste into the country. <\/p>\n

Late last year, the government said it seized more than 70 containers of hazardous e-waste, primarily from the United States, at a port on Batam Island. Last month, four of the containers \u2014 carrying used computers, hard drives, audio-video devices, modems, power boards and printed circuit boards \u2014 were shipped back to the U.S.<\/p>\n

Southeast Asia has become a frequent destination for such shipments after China moved to ban most foreign waste imports beginning in 2018, prompting exporters to seek alternative sites with lower recycling costs and weaker enforcement, though governments in the region have increasingly tightened controls.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) \u2014 Malaysia has announced an immediate and full ban on the importation of electronic…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":272142,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[1758,138,4442,4142,3562,273,3717,5696,153812,339,1775,70394,111,139,69,135,147,142518,18387,255],"class_list":["post-272141","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-asia-pacific","tag-business","tag-climate","tag-climate-and-environment","tag-corruption","tag-environment","tag-general-news","tag-indonesia","tag-indonesia-government","tag-international-trade","tag-malaysia","tag-malaysia-government","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-politics","tag-science","tag-send-to-apple-news","tag-tariffs-and-global-trade","tag-world-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/272141","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=272141"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/272141\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/272142"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=272141"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=272141"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=272141"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}