SUNGAI PETANI: Imagine over RM10 million worth of precious metals being extracted monthly from an illegal e-waste recycling facility, hidden within a palm oil plantation in Tikam Batu.

This facility, raided by authorities today, has been a hub for extracting metals such as copper, aluminum, and iron, causing severe environmental damage.

Nestled discreetly, the operation run by local and Chinese nationals, exploiting Bangladeshi labour workers, was hidden in plain sight.

A female Chinese employee detained during the raid, claimed the 160,000 sq ft facility was leased by her employers, who rake in nine-digit annual incomes.

"We receive truckloads of e-waste daily, sourced locally and internationally, and extract metals like aluminum, copper, and iron, my employers make well over RM100 million annually," she told the NST after she was detained.

The employee, in her 50s, claimed she earns a meagre 2,000 Chinese Yuan (approximately RM1,300) monthly and was deceived into the job by her employers.

Allegedly desperate for work, she left her legitimate engineering job in Hangzhou, China, after similar operations shut down when China banned the import of e-waste.

"I came here earlier this year and was tricked into this, I thought I was signing up for a legitimate recycling facility.

"My employers here are local Malaysians, they also own the palm oil estate. They come here once a month to check the operations, but they're not around today," claimed the detainee, who entered the country in March this year.

Checks by the NST during the raid found documents showing the facility's transactions with local and foreign companies selling industrial waste and purchasing processed extracted metals.

For the record, China banned the import of e-waste effective in January 2018, causing some developed countries to transport the waste to other Southeast Asian countries like Thailand and Malaysia.

This led to some Chinese manufacturers setting up factories in these countries, in some cases, operating illegitimately.

Meanwhile, state Department of Environment (DoE) director Sharifah Zakiah Syed Sahab said over 350 metric tonnes of e-waste were seized during the raid.

She said the raid was conducted after two months of surveillance by the department.

"A stop-work order on the facility was taken under Section 38 (1)(a) of the Environmental Quality Act 1974 for illegal recovery of scheduled waste without approval. The case will be investigated under Sections 18(1), 34A(1), and 34B(1) of the Act," she said.

Sharifah added the illegal e-waste recovery could cause environmental pollution, including illegal waste disposal and air and water contamination.

"Nine Bangladeshi and a Chinese national were also detained for various immigration offenses," she added.

She also warned landowners to monitor activities on their properties to avoid legal consequences.

Yesterday, Natural Resources Minister Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad declared "war" on illegal waste import syndicates, vowing aggressive action against unregistered facilities operating.

https://www.nst.com.my/news/crime-courts/2024/06/1069129/hidden-plantation-illegal-e-waste-factory-raked-over-rm10mil