NewsHub

Thai officials on Wednesday said they seized 238 tons of illegally imported electronic waste from the United States at the port of Bangkok, one of the biggest lots they’ve found this year.

The waste, which came in 10 large containers, was declared as mixed metal scrap containing aluminium, copper and iron, but turned out to be circuit boards mixed in a huge pile of metal scrap, said Theeraj Athanavanich, director-general of the Customs Department.

The electronic waste — which is classified as hazardous waste under the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal — was found on Tuesday after the 40-foot containers became the subject of a routine random inspection, officials said.

The Basel Convention is an international treaty signed in 1989 meant to deal with hazardous waste flowing into developing countries as costs for disposal grew along with the amount of waste.

A U.N. report last year said electronic waste is piling up worldwide. Some 62 million tons of electronic waste was generated in 2022 and that figure is on track to reach 82 million tons by 2030, the report said. It said only 22% of the waste was properly collected and recycled in 2022 and that quantity is expected to fall to 20% by the end of the decade due to higher consumption, limited repair options, shorter product life cycles, and inadequate management infrastructure.

Theeraj said Thai authorities are looking to press charges including falsely declaring imported goods, illegally importing electronic waste and planning to re-export the waste back to its country of origin.

“It’s important that we take action on this kind of goods,” he said. “There are environmental impacts that are dangerous to the people, especially communities around factories that might import these things for processing, then recycling.”

Electronic waste creates huge health hazards. Many components are laden with lead and mercury, cadmium and other toxins. Recyclers are after gold, silver, palladium and copper, mainly from printed circuit boards, but lax controls mean that facilities often burn plastics to release encased copper and use unsafe methods to extract precious metals.

Thailand passed a ban on the import of a range of electronic waste products in 2020. The Cabinet in February approved an expanded list of the banned waste.

Sunthron Kewsawang, deputy director-general of the Department of Industrial Works, said officials suspected at least two factories in Samut Sakhon province, which borders Bangkok, are involved in importing the waste. Last year, Thai officials found thousands of tons of smuggled cadmium waste at a factory in the province, Thai PBS reported.

Residents near the area were later found to have usually high levels of the poisonous metal in their urine, according to the report. Exposure to cadmium can cause flu-like symptoms, including chills, fever and muscle pain, according to the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Long-term exposure can lead to cancer, kidney, bone and lung disease.

In January, the Customs Department said it seized 256 tons of illegally imported electronic waste from Japan and Hong Kong at a port in eastern Thailand.

Kiki Intarasuwan

contributed to this report.

For the first time since the release Monday from Gaza of American-Israeli hostage Edan Alexander’s by the militant group Hamas, his family spoke publicly about what their emotional reunion was like, and what their son went through.

In a news conference Tuesday from the hospital in Tel Aviv where her son is recovering, Yael Alexander said the moment she embraced him “time stood still,” adding, “My heartbeat returned in sync with his.”

However, she also shared that during his more than 580 days in captivity, “Every minute was a battle between hope and despair.”

She said the reunion was also met with the pain of learning that her son faced “daily fear, hunger, the lack of water and appalling sanitary conditions.”

While being held in underground tunnels, Edan Alexander heard deafening explosions, the whistles of missiles, and felt the earth shaking, she said.

Alexanders call for the release of the remaining hostages

At the news conference, Yael Alexander said it was important to bring home the remaining hostages. The extended Alexander family held up photos of those still being held captive.

Yael and her husband, Adi Alexander, thanked President Trump, who Edan Alexander spoke with by phone on Monday. Neither of them thanked Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, however.

“Soon, Edan will be home in the United States, in New Jersey, watching his little brother play basketball, reuniting with his friends in New Jersey. He’s 21 now, and those happy kinds may include a beer, too, but we will never forget the first beer he had on the rooftop of this very building since his release,” Adi Alexander said.

Edan Alexander takes to social media for first time

Edan Alexander on Tuesday created his first Instagram post of that moment, titling it, “Home sweet home.”

He was wearing a Star of David, a necklace given to him by Steve Witkoff, U.S. special envoy to the Middle East. It belonged to Witkoff’s late son, Andrew.

Witkoff’s son, Alex, posted on X that Edan is “a true warrior and the necklace is a powerful reminder of his strength, survival, and pride in his Jewish heritage.”

It is unclear when Alexander will return to the U.S.

Alexander grew up in New Jersey before moving to Israel. He was serving in the Israeli military on Oct. 7, 2023, when he was abducted during Hamas’ assault on Israel.