trade in e-waste: an international environmental tragedy

This is obnoxious. And just plan noxious.


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All puns aside, trade in electronic waste (e-waste) is a serious problem. The consumer electronics industry is driven by technology development, and I'm all for that. I know I'm all excited about my iPhone and home media computer that doubles as a TV. oh yeah. What I'm not for is piles of old computers, TVs and cellphones getting rounded up and sent to China, India, Ghana, Nigeria, etc. so that workers can melt them down wearing no protective gear.

Did you see the chemical burns? See the dude trying to chase the camera away? He knows it's not right. He knows about the toxics (lead, phthalates, dioxins, to name a few) that are released when electronics are melted down for recycling. And there's a business to run. And the business wouldn't run without workers, who put their health in jeopardy to eke out a living.

And how about the trade in e-waste to Ghana? Young boys are tramping over a mountain of broken glass to find usable computer parts to sell. For money to go to school. Meanwhile,

As people tip-toe across the "crazy paving" of obsolete monitor casings, they balance bags of recyclable computer innards on their heads.

They are heading for the fires where bundles of computer cables are thrown.

Thick black smoke blows across the site seven days a week. In order to retrieve the valuable copper from the cables, the plastic coating is burnt off and old car tyres are thrown on to the flames to keep the fires burning.

Domestic US and UK law provide strict regulations for the recycling of hazardous waste (electronics, among others), so costs push compliance out and let international trade in. International law squarely forbids trade in hazardous waste through the Basel Convention. EU law also addresses the trade, but the problem persists. How?

Greenpeace's investigations uncovered that e-waste is shipped in containers marked "usable second-hand goods." In general, usable second-hand goods are common imports to Ghana. They even have a nickname for second-hand clothing, based on the implication is that people get rid of their clothing when they die: obroni we-u, meaning "white man is dead." But what about old computers? Environmental journalist Mike Anane describes what the investigation uncovered:

About 10% are put to good use the rest go straight to Agbobloshie dump site and other dumps around the country where they contaminate ground water, surface water, the rivers and the streams. And they all end up in the sea and that's where we get all the fish.

I love me some mercury-lead-cadmium-phthalate-dioxin fish, don't you? Mm, mm.

As of early August 2008 (when I was there!), Ghana's Environmental Protection Agency was waiting to hear the results of an international investigation before acting. Said the Agency's public relations officer:

"We must be concerned about the dumping of the e-waste, but there must be a scientific or medical proof that the people were reportedly coughing or having chest pains as a result of the activities going on in that area," Mr Abadoo stressed.

Proof, ok? He wants proof. I can imagine that Ghana's EPA is not the best-funded ministry in the country, but I'm worried that they don't show any more "concern" than that. It's not all on Ghana, of course. There are a number of possible targets for intervention: consumers, recycling businesses, electronics manufacturers, workers who do the melting and burning, and states signatories to the Basel Convention. You can probably think of others.

One smidgen of good news: this week a trade association representing many major cell phone makers announced that they will create a universal cell phone charger, which appeals to consumers and Mother Earth. By 2012. So just sit tight. What's the rush?