Footage released by Nationalist MP Jason Azzopardi which showed tons of white goods stored in an Iklin facility being run in breach of environmental and planning policy sparked anger and concern.

But does electronic waste actually pose any hazard?

Electronic waste or e-waste are terms used to describe discarded electrical or electronic devices.

The European Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive classifies this kind of waste in 10 categories, which include large household accessories such as cooling and freezing appliances.

Other categories of WEEE include IT and telecommunication equipment, toys and sport equipment, medical devices as well as electronic tools.

According to Oliver Fenech, general manager of PT Matic Environmental Services, a company that deals with hazardous waste, the dumping of white goods at the Iklin site posed no more risk to human health than any other civic amenity site.

Cannibalism danger

Mr Fenech said that white goods, if delivered to the civic amenity site untampered with, posed no risk while in regular storage waiting to be disposed of correctly.

However, if white goods are “cannibalised”, meaning they are raided for valuable electrical components such as motors, then pollutants are released into the atmosphere in an uncontrolled environment.

“CFCs pose a risk to human health but even more so they pose significant harm to the environment, which is why the cannibalisation of these goods is an absolute no-go,” Mr Fenech said.

White goods need to be de-gassed and have foam removed before they are fit for processing

White goods need to be de-gassed and have foam removed before they are fit for processing.

Since no such adequate facilities exist in Malta, these are generally exported instead.

Mr Fenech said that the cannibalisation of appliances by consumers created significant problems in the waste exportation industry as operators cannot fall back on selling the salvageable parts of the appliance to offset the cost of exporting the waste.

Appliances such as refrigerators, air conditioners, stoves and similar goods, contain different metals as well as fiberglass or polyfoam.

Dumped white goods at the Iklin site.

Cooling systems are generally made from aluminum, copper or an alloy while the interiors are made from vacuum-formed plastic.

Air conditioners, refrigerators and freezers commonly contain gasses known as refrigerants, sometimes called chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) or hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs). These are made from carbon, hydrogen, chlorine and fluorine and are also commonly known by the brand name Freon.

CFCs contribute to the thinning of the ozone layer, which protects the earth from the sun’s ultraviolet radiation. HCFCs do less damage but are also greenhouse gasses.

Greenhouse gases absorb and emit radiation and cause the greenhouse effect that causes the planet’s surface to warm.  The strengthening of the greenhouse effect through human activities and the long-term rise of the climate is a significant aspect of climate change.

White goods being dumped at the Wastserv facility in Iklin.

Is it a fire hazard?

CFCs and other gases found inside refrigerants are for the most part non-toxic, non-flammable and non-carcinogenic.

Peter Paul Coleiro, the deputy director of the Civil Protection Department, told Times of Malta that the risk of fire through the dumping and storing of white goods was “negligible”.

However, due to the tight storage conditions, if such appliances were stored next to other combustible materials or intentionally set alight, the risk of a fire would “increase exponentially”.