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What about e-waste?
10 marzo 2005
Since 1977 I've had many, many computers. Starting with a Radio Shack TRS 80, I've owned computers made by Atari, Commodore, Apple, Kaypro, IBM, Sinclair, Texas Instruments, Zenith, Hewlett Packard... and a whole lot of PCs.
As they've aged out of usefulness, I've given quite a few to service clubs which pass them along to places where old machines are still very useful. There is a lot of life left in a 486, if you've never had any computers before it. Not for me, of course, since anything less than a 3-GHz P4 with 1 GB of RAM seems positively archaic and cranky.
And the rest went to the big waste bin in the sky. By which I mean they probably ended up in a landfill in some developing nation where they sit today, in pieces, mined for their metals and any salvageable components. But the rest, that mass of non-degradable plastic and glass, those slivers of silicon, glass and toxic metals, are still there.
I didn't realize the problem until quite recently. It's called “ewaste” and it represents one of the most troubling aspects of technology. Old technology is basically hazardous waste, dumped on a handful of Asian nations, who bear the brunt of the poisons and pollution our technology brings.
None of the countries where we dump our ewaste have the technologies and infrastructure to salvage or recycle more than a small part of the material we send. And most of the work is done by dirt-poor populations whose lives revolve around garbage dumps, in countries with little or no environmental protection laws. The plastic residue, for example, is often burned in the open.
I found a sobering report about ewaste on www.crra.com/ewaste/ttrash2/ttrash2/ (available as a PDF at Ewaste report).
It's not merely computers that become ewaste – there are old TVs and stereos, gamepads, record players, cassette decks, fax machines, cameras, printers, radios, air conditioners, refrigerators, cell phones, CDs and other consumer electronics. Dump ‘em and forget ‘em, buy something new.
More than 1,000 substances in ewaste cause pollution and many are toxic: lead, cadmium, mercury, PVC, barium, beryllium, toners, phosphor, among them.
Part of the problem is planned obsolescence. We're used to having new models of almost everything every year. Old, but working and usable items often get disposed of simply to be replaced by the newest version. It's a deliberate way to keep the economy rolling: encourage consumers to keep changing products by updating and changing standards very frequently.
But how many of us consider the final resting place of that old hardware when we toss it in the waste bin?
The United States is the largest exporter of ewaste. In 1994, the Basel Convention called for an amendment to ban all exports of hazardous waste from rich to poor countries for any reason, including recycling. Like the Kyoto Accord, the US has refused to ratify the agreement, although 15 European countries did. Canada ratified the original convention in 1989, but didn't ratify the export agreement.
To allow its electronic companies to be more profitable, the USA has exempted ewaste from its Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. Although China banned importation of ewaste, the USA continues to allow companies operating from the States to export ewaste into China. Rather than develop a comprehensive internal recycling program, or emphasize green and bio-degradable materials, the US Environmental Protection Agency has admitted exporting ewaste is part of the nation's disposal strategy.
Canada is no slouch in ewaste. According to Environment Canada, we disposed of 34,000 tonnes of electronic waste in 1999. That's expected to almost double by 2005. The Electronics Product Stewardship Canada site (Electronics Stewardship site) is developed by a coalition of several electronics firms and manufacturers trying to find solutions to ewaste. True, they're partly motivated by the threat of impending legislation in Manitoba, Ontario and probably British Columbia that will force them to find better ways to deal with ewaste.
But the onus is also on us, the consumer. EPSC recommends governments institute a dumping fee for ewaste passed along to the consumer, for example: monitor: $12; CPU: $8; laptop: $2; printer: $7; television: $25. It's not unlike the disposal fee we already pay with tires. But is it enough to deter conspicuous consumption, dumping perfectly good old-ware in exchange for shiny new stuff?
Not likely. At best it will marginally help offset the cost of disposal and recycling within Canada - but expect it to happen soon.
Ewaste is the dirty secret of technology, one we can't ignore any longer. We are doing great harm to the people in poorer nations by dumping toxic waste on them. We have to take more responsibility for ourselves and our own waste. If we don't want to deal with it, let's pressure the manufacturers to find materials that don't pose such great risks to human health and the environment.
As they've aged out of usefulness, I've given quite a few to service clubs which pass them along to places where old machines are still very useful. There is a lot of life left in a 486, if you've never had any computers before it. Not for me, of course, since anything less than a 3-GHz P4 with 1 GB of RAM seems positively archaic and cranky.
And the rest went to the big waste bin in the sky. By which I mean they probably ended up in a landfill in some developing nation where they sit today, in pieces, mined for their metals and any salvageable components. But the rest, that mass of non-degradable plastic and glass, those slivers of silicon, glass and toxic metals, are still there.
I didn't realize the problem until quite recently. It's called “ewaste” and it represents one of the most troubling aspects of technology. Old technology is basically hazardous waste, dumped on a handful of Asian nations, who bear the brunt of the poisons and pollution our technology brings.
None of the countries where we dump our ewaste have the technologies and infrastructure to salvage or recycle more than a small part of the material we send. And most of the work is done by dirt-poor populations whose lives revolve around garbage dumps, in countries with little or no environmental protection laws. The plastic residue, for example, is often burned in the open.
I found a sobering report about ewaste on www.crra.com/ewaste/ttrash2/ttrash2/ (available as a PDF at Ewaste report).
It's not merely computers that become ewaste – there are old TVs and stereos, gamepads, record players, cassette decks, fax machines, cameras, printers, radios, air conditioners, refrigerators, cell phones, CDs and other consumer electronics. Dump ‘em and forget ‘em, buy something new.
More than 1,000 substances in ewaste cause pollution and many are toxic: lead, cadmium, mercury, PVC, barium, beryllium, toners, phosphor, among them.
Part of the problem is planned obsolescence. We're used to having new models of almost everything every year. Old, but working and usable items often get disposed of simply to be replaced by the newest version. It's a deliberate way to keep the economy rolling: encourage consumers to keep changing products by updating and changing standards very frequently.
But how many of us consider the final resting place of that old hardware when we toss it in the waste bin?
The United States is the largest exporter of ewaste. In 1994, the Basel Convention called for an amendment to ban all exports of hazardous waste from rich to poor countries for any reason, including recycling. Like the Kyoto Accord, the US has refused to ratify the agreement, although 15 European countries did. Canada ratified the original convention in 1989, but didn't ratify the export agreement.
To allow its electronic companies to be more profitable, the USA has exempted ewaste from its Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. Although China banned importation of ewaste, the USA continues to allow companies operating from the States to export ewaste into China. Rather than develop a comprehensive internal recycling program, or emphasize green and bio-degradable materials, the US Environmental Protection Agency has admitted exporting ewaste is part of the nation's disposal strategy.
Canada is no slouch in ewaste. According to Environment Canada, we disposed of 34,000 tonnes of electronic waste in 1999. That's expected to almost double by 2005. The Electronics Product Stewardship Canada site (Electronics Stewardship site) is developed by a coalition of several electronics firms and manufacturers trying to find solutions to ewaste. True, they're partly motivated by the threat of impending legislation in Manitoba, Ontario and probably British Columbia that will force them to find better ways to deal with ewaste.
But the onus is also on us, the consumer. EPSC recommends governments institute a dumping fee for ewaste passed along to the consumer, for example: monitor: $12; CPU: $8; laptop: $2; printer: $7; television: $25. It's not unlike the disposal fee we already pay with tires. But is it enough to deter conspicuous consumption, dumping perfectly good old-ware in exchange for shiny new stuff?
Not likely. At best it will marginally help offset the cost of disposal and recycling within Canada - but expect it to happen soon.
Ewaste is the dirty secret of technology, one we can't ignore any longer. We are doing great harm to the people in poorer nations by dumping toxic waste on them. We have to take more responsibility for ourselves and our own waste. If we don't want to deal with it, let's pressure the manufacturers to find materials that don't pose such great risks to human health and the environment.
