Ethical Travel - E-waste
It's officially hip to be square. If you're not sporting thick-rimmed glasses, a cardigan and carrying an I-gadget, you haven't ascended to the pinnacle of cool. Geek chic is very now and the style isn't complete without the newest, fastest and smartest technology. A lot of us have received techy toys for Christmas and as we coo over shiny covers and new apps, our old stuff is consigned to the curb. But if out of sight is out of mind, then we're in trouble. Our unwanted technology has to go somewhere and a new year is the perfect time to track, and trace how our e-waste goes from cutting edge to languishing at the top of a scrapheap.
Story Highlights
- The Cost of Geek Chic
- The Digital Dumps
- Consumer Control
The Cost of Geek Chic
As technology advances, the methods by which it's produced are becoming cheaper. That saving is passed onto consumers and this means that the lifespan of our gadgets is shortening. Unfortunately our unwanted e-goods often end up on the other side of the world as part of the rapidly growing e-waste trade. In the UK and EU there is legislation in place to prevent the exportation of e-waste, and unlike in the US, much of the responsibility for recycling lies with the manufacturer. However millions of tonnes are still exported from the US, the UK and Europe to scrap yards in Asia, and Africa every year.
The Digital Dumps
I've never been a fan of heavy metal myself, but when you're talking about e-waste, you have to put up with it. Lead, Mercury and Cadmium - our unwanted electronics are full of toxic stuff like this. But e-waste also contains valuables like copper, gold, tin and silicon. In India, China, Nigeria and Ghana, many people are involved in processing scrap by hand to extract these materials for the resale market. In Europe and the UK, workers at e-waste recycling facilities are protected by strict safety controls but in the developing world, the methods used to extract these wanted materials involve burning and cooking' circuit boards - procedures that release pollutants into the soil, the groundwater and the air. This compromises the health of the women and children who do the bulk of the scavenging.
Consumer Control
One major thing that's supposed to stem this dumping between rich and poor countries, is the Basel Convention. Officially this means that there shouldn't be any e-waste going from the ports of signatories in the EU to West Africa, India and China, but with the US Environmental Protection Agency reporting that 20 to 50 million tonnes of waste was generated worldwide, last year alone, it seems that not all of it can be recycled.
While specialist recyclers exist to deal with e-waste, it's difficult for consumers to ensure that their chosen recycler is legitimate. Some will pack all that old technology into a cargo container and ship it off with no one the wiser. But a lot of old e-goods still have some juice left in them, so a bona fide recycler should reuse goods rather than dump them.
If you're wondering what manufacturers are doing to reduce e-waste, the folks at Greenpeace have compiled their handy Guide to Greener Electronics. This gives detailed rankings of how major manufacturers stack up in the sustainability stakes. Technology is evolving quickly and given that we're all nerds now - it'd be a shame not to keep up. E-waste might be slipping by international treaties, but consumer control is key to demanding a change in not just how our technology is disposed of, but how it is actually produced. Guide to Greener Electronics
- Jackie Reddy
