E-Waste Litters the Developing World

Have you ever wondered what became of your VHS player? How about that old computer with the black and green monitor, or your first cell phone that was the size of a loaf of bread?

We laugh at the memory of this tragically out-of-date technology, but for the developing world, our old electronic devices have become a very serious problem.

With people constantly upgrading their computers, TVs and cell phones, electronic waste, or e-waste, has quickly become the fastest growing component of solid waste. Compounding the problem, e-waste is often extremely toxic.

Despite international agreements that prohibit the import and export of hazardous waste, shipments of broken electronic devices continue to pour into the harbours of Kenya, India and especially China.

The reason is strictly financial. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that it is up to 10 times cheaper to export e-waste than to dispose of it domestically.

Mercury, barium, lead and cadmium are just a few of the dangerous elements that can be found in discarded devices. Many more toxic materials are used in the salvaging process that recovers the gold, silver, copper and other valuable metals found in computers, cell phones and TVs.

Acid baths and open fires are typical of the inefficient and dangerous methods used in the recovery of these precious metals. Toxic fumes and acid spillage contribute to an unsafe working environment. The hazardous elements accumulate in landfills and can leech into the groundwater, leaving it undrinkable.

The Basel Convention--which the United States has yet to sign--is an international treaty that addresses e-waste. While it has helped to slow the transfer of toxic waste between nations, it lacks accountability.

The individual parties of the Convention are left to police themselves. So while China, for example, has signed and ratified the convention, there is no international enforcement--and so the practice of importing e-waste continues unabated.

Solving the E-Waste Problem (StEP) in Bonn, Germany, is an initiative of several UN organizations. Despite their efforts to stop the flow of e-waste into developing nations, Executive Director, Ruediger Kuehr, can understand why China continues to accept shipments.

"China, like India and many other countries, is really hungry for resources, so they let e-waste into their country to support their production chain," he says. "They have many people making their living off of e-waste, so they cannot easily say 'Let's stop all of these imports.'"

An estimated 150,000 people are employed by the e-waste industry in Guiyu, China, and in India 25,000 more are working in the scrap yards of Delhi. The gold, silver, copper, aluminium and other metals they salvaged become a vital resource for the manufacturing of new items. The work is as arduous as it is dangerous, and yet a typical wage is only $2 to $4 a day.

Consumer awareness on the issue of e-waste is still low, but on the rise. People have begun to demand "greener" technology, and companies are starting to listen.

In March 2008, Greenpeace released the seventh edition of its Guide to Greener Electronics, providing environmental impact rankings for the industry. Toshiba and Samsung were at the head of the class, improving their recycling programs and using alternative, non-toxic materials. According to the report, Microsoft, Phillips and Nintendo were at the bottom of the group.

While virtually all of the manufacturers had shown some improvement, it's been a slow process by any measure. A significant increase in consumer awareness, elevated pressure on industry to provide solutions and economic alternatives for developing nations are all necessary if we're ever going to dispose of this e-waste problem.