Electronic Waste in Developing Countries

The dangerous working conditions and substandard environmental practices involved in breaking down old consumer electronics is becoming a more and more serious problem for many developing countries.  Many of the consumer electronics sold in Canada eventually end up in Ghanaian or Chinese landfills where they are broken down for the valuable minerals.  The following paragraphs will summarize the life cycle of a piece of consumer electronics and then examine whether better management or less consumption could help alleviate the problem.

Many consumer electronics are originally manufactured in factories in moderately developed countries such as South Korea or Taiwan and shipped to Canada and other developed countries where they are sold to consumers.  Most Canadians will use their computers for less than 3 or 4 years before replacing them.  The out of date piece of electronics is then given to recycling companies for almost nothing.  Some of these computers are then sold (sometimes illegally) to businesses in developing countries at which point the salvageable ones are sold for a modest profit while the useless electronic waste is thrown away, to be broken down for its base materials in extremely unsafe and environmentally damaging conditions.

This problem could probably be solved by better management, but not by the governments or businesses of developed countries.  The shipping of used consumer electronics to developing countries brings access to equipment that the people of these countries wouldn't otherwise have access to.  Cracking down on the export of used electronics could eliminate the unsafe breaking down of electronic waste but would also serve to widen the digital divide by preventing access to affordable electronics for the citizens of developing countries.  However, this problem could be addressed by the governments of developing countries by criminalizing these dangerous practices.  The governments of these countries might also offer subsidies to businesses so they could afford to build and operate safer recycling facilities.

Another suggested solution to this problem is for developed countries to reduce their consumption of electronic goods.  It stands to reason that the citizens of developed countries will still need the same amount of consumer electronics at any given time, so the only way to reduce consumption would be to increase the time people keep their electronics before throwing them away.  This could be accomplished by subsidies on the repair of consumer electronics.  As it stands currently, most businesses that can repair electronics also sell the electronics.  They therefore have little incentive to charge affordable prices for repairs because they know that high repair prices will drive consumers to simply but new products, thus increasing revenue.  However, even if repairing ones old electronics were more affordable, this wouldn't really solve the problem.  The overall amount of electronics shipped to developing countries might decrease but what they received would be more likely to be completely non-functional.  As a result, the amount of electronics being broken down for their base components upon arrival might actually increase!

The unsafe and environmentally damaging process of breaking down electronic waste in developing countries is a serious problem to developing countries, but the problem can only be effectively solved in the developing countries themselves.  Perhaps some NGOs such as Greenpeace should work toward building recycling facilities in these developing countries rather than wasting their time fighting nuclear power in Canada!

Sorry for the length of this post.  I got a little carried away haha.

What's wrong with this world.

This video shows one of the many effects of mass consumption by developed countries on less developed countries. This is a problem that could be fixed by better management or simply less consumption! Oh, the ewaste.

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=4586903

http://vodpod.com/watch/1824871-frontlineworld-ghana-digital-dumping-ground-pbs

My letter to Greenpeace

"Dear Greenpeace,

It has recently come to my attention that your organization is not interested in combating global warming but instead chooses to advance the same "green" agenda of the 1970's and 80's.

Times have changed, and while nuclear power is certainly not environmentally ideal, campaigning against it will only result in continued dependency on fossil fuels which are destroying our atmosphere.  I strongly support your organization's campaign against tar sands development, but I cannot get behind your anti-nuclear crusade.  Therefore, I would appreciate if you would cancel my account with your organization so I can apply that portion of my donation budget to an organization more in line with my beliefs.

Thank you for your understanding,

George MacKay"

Any thoughts?  Please comment!