E-waste isn’t a problem in just our local landfills, dumps or backyards. Due to the fact that the little that exists in the way of regulation, most of the millions of tons of electronic waste produced in North America and Europe every year is exported to lesser developed countries, creating a world-wide environmental disaster.
The EPA estimates that more than 40 million computers become obsolete and are discarded every year. Only 15 percent (6 million) of these computers are recycled, 85 percent of them or the remaining 34 million end up in U.S. landfills or shipped overseas. 80% of the electronic waste given to recyclers in the North America is exported to other less developed countries where environmental laws are lax or non-existent.
The Basel Convention of March, 1989 is an international treaty that was created to reduce the export of hazardous waste between nations, and specifically to prevent the shipment and export of e-waste from developed countries to less developed ones. This treaty was signed and ratified by 145 countries across the globe. There are only three countries on the planet that signed yet never ratified it: Haiti, Afghanistan and the United States. With no compliance with this treaty by the US, this makes it technically still legal to export e-waste from this country. So millions of tons of electronics are, every year.
China is the biggest importer of the planet’s e-Waste. Guiyu is a city in southern China located very close to the populous Hong Kong and is the largest importer of e-Waste in China. Of its estimated population of 197,190 men, women and children, at least 100,000 are workers in the e-waste industry. Many of them work removing what value can be found in precious metals and other assets from these electronic components with only chisels and their bare hands as tools. No respiratory or hazardous waste handling equipment is provided. As a result of millions of tons of discarded electronics irresponsibly handled and improperly stored, the air and water people drink, bathe in and cook with in this city is now highly polluted.
The other countries that are major importers of e-waste include India (where there are no laws governing e-waste at all), Pakistan, Ghana and other parts of Africa. All of these countries, including China, have signed the Basel Convention, pledging to cut down e-waste, but little is enforced.
It is interesting to note that China is not only the biggest importer of used electronics, but also the biggest exporter in the world of new computer components and electronics.
In all of these countries, pollution of the air and water has increased, as well as a dramatic increase in environmentally related illnesses among people. Toxic chemicals and heavy metals have leeched into the ground and water system from the piles of electronic waste scattered about everywhere. Exposure to these toxins can cause respiratory and reproductive problems as well as more severe illnesses such as brain damage, nervous damage and blood disorders.
This is a continuously growing dilemma, as e-waste becomes the largest component of overall global municipal waste. As production continues to increase and the electronics industry continues to boom, this problem will only grow into an epidemic.
For more information about eWaste disposal and electronics recycling services, visit Newport Computer Services, Inc. at http://www.newportcomputers.com, email sales@newportcomputers.com or call 603-926-4300.
