A child sifts through e-waste in New Delhi / © Wikipedia
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The green environmental movement is encouraging Americans to increasingly recycle their used electronics, giving away old computers and televisions when new ones are purchased. It not only reduces waste and preserves the local environment, but also enables others to make use of old but still viable electronics.
It all seems like the perfect eco-friendly thing to do, except for one tiny problem. As much as 80 per cent of U.S. electronic waste (or “e-waste”) makes its way to developing nations like India, China and Nigeria where workers – many of them without protective gear – proceed to disassemble the equipment to extract metals and gases, thus exposing themselves and the local environment to unspoken hazards.
Most of this electronic waste is collected during free recycling drives periodically conducted by companies and schools that are more prone to the accumulation of equipment. In most cases, companies can’t be bothered to find out exactly where their discarded trash is going.
As it turns out, recycling companies sell most of the working parts and then sell the rest to escort brokers. The left over junk makes it way abroad by freight, where the sheer scale of incoming goods makes it impossible to check each and every freight container for objectionable materials.
A recent tip by environmentalists led to the seizure of two freight containers that contained e-waste from the US. China doesn’t permit entry of electronic waste and the objectionable containers were sent back. But for every container that’s intercepted there are, customs officials admit, many more that will enter the country because it’s simply not possible to check all containers.
Activists say manufacturers need to implement policies that will ensure customers can return their old electronics. Already, big names like Sony and Apple have set up drop off centers and mailing options for old electronic gear to reduce the chances of toxic pollution in America and abroad.