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Main Content
The Risks and Opportunities of e-Waste
40 million tons- that is the amount of electronic waste the global electronics market spits out annually, the United Nations University estimates.
This statistic is hardly surprising since mobile phones are substituted faster than clothes.
The twenty-seven members of the European Union account for 8.3-9.1 million tons of the yearly e-scrap. Such a share seems logical, since Europe remains a very important outlet for the newest electronic devices.
A large quantity of these discarded electric products end up – usually via illegal transport – in the informal economies of India, China and some African countries. Containers full of old television sets are piled up in their harbours because Europeans and Americans switch over to flat screens.
Since many of these electric products do not function anymore, day labourers and children do the best they can to find the treasures Western mechanics hid in 1990 refrigerators. However, due to their limited dismantling techniques, only a minority of the valuable metals are recycled. Furthermore, densely populated areas face serious environmental risks because lead fumes are blown through the unsuspecting neighbourhood. Soil and water samples, taken by Greenpeace in Ghana, reveal pollution with dioxin and heavy metals such as cadmium.
The moral problem is aggravated by the fact that Europe has the expertise on how to recycle electronic and electrical equipment efficiently and ecologically. In the EU, recycling material such as gold, silver and cobalt has even become a flourishing section of the green economy. To highlight the forgone profit in recycling, one has to consider that unlike glass and paper which lose quality after a couple of recycling turns, metal keeps its original state cycle after cycle. Yet, a lot of e-waste still slips through the customs net, often labelled ‘second-hand household goods’. This further complicates the future of the EU, a continent that lacks raw materials and will see its potential options to meet its needs shrink.
More and more voices are raised against the export of EU electronic waste, which – in defiance of the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal – has dramatically increased over the past decade. If the Union sees it as its moral duty to strive for a better environment, then why would it not recycle its own e-waste?
Meanwhile, developing countries can provide the technology and know-how to dismantle safely, which could eventually even create jobs. E-waste should only pass customs when non-European buyers can present a certificate, proving their efficient recycling methods. Second-hand goods should not be exported until tests assure they are still fit for use.
In September 2010, MEPs have the opportunity to take an important step towards tougher inspections on exported waste. Updating the relevant EU legislation could cause a far-reaching knock-on effect, putting illegal flows of e-waste to a halt, reducing worldwide health and environmental risks, and bringing a resource-efficient Europe nearer.