Trading of electrical and electronic equipment - a contemporary problem of modern society

Abstract

In the last decade, the dual role of waste in the process of waste collection, transportation and recycling, caused many problems for numerous countries around the world. Waste means the raw materials, widely traded at the global level, while the inadequate system of checks allows illegal trading of 'e-waste' (which are often referred to as the second-hand electrical and electronic equipment) that is parallel to the legitimate activity of waste collection and trade management. The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the problems and challenges in the field of e-waste trade, botharound the world and in Slovenia. Analyses show that profits from the resale of e-waste are enormous, so both large corporations as well as organized crime groups have interests that situations on the (black) market would not change. Also in Slovenia, despite very extensive and detailed law enforcement, authorities responsible for the prosecution of trafficking of e-waste are still faced with a number of procedural and organizational problems, which complicates their work. In the final debate, the authors propose specific solutions to the problem.