These Photos Will Haunt You…….
One more new smartphone or electronic gadget can’t make that much difference, right? It’s only one little machine…..
Yes. Indeed it is.
Multiplied by the hundreds of millions of other people also buying one more little machine.
But what happens to all those “one little machines” is not something you see often. Because it’s not pretty. You’ll see more below…..
News programs cover the long queues or lines at stores to buy the latest, newly-launched phone or tech. Shoppers buy electronic toys as presents for Christmas and birthdays, we treat ourselves to a new satellite TV dish or sound system – and it seems like it’s good for business.
But what happens to those gadgets when they’re no longer new and shiny?
It’s not a nice picture. (That’s why you don’t see it on the news).
e-Waste Recycling
Perhaps you’re thinking “But I do e-waste recycling!”. Perhaps the original manufacturer takes your gadgets back for recycling. Or perhaps there’s a curbside pickup for e-waste recycling. Or maybe you even take it a recycling collection point.
Great! But there’s a problem.
e-Waste (electrical and electronic waste) recycling sounds good – but it’s expensive. On average, sustainably recycling an old computer (PC) costs about $20 per machine. But it can be shipped to Africa for $2.
What do you think most companies do?
They’re going to keep the $18.
Of course, there are laws that say this shouldn’t happen. But these international laws are quite loose – and they would interfere with profits.
That average $18 per PC is often split between those apparently respectable operators from the developed world, and many others who profit from the booming trade in e-waste recycling. (Apparently even the Mafia are involved).
So What Really Happens in e-Waste Recycling?
These are the pictures you won’t see on the news. It’s like a new form of colonialism. We discard our gadgets, and others “recycle” it – in the cheapest ways possible of course.
Computers are burned to remove the plastic and other casings, giving off highly toxic fumes. Most equipment contains toxic mercury, arsenic and flame retardants. Once the innards are available, they are stripped down by hand to remove the copper and lead.
And for what? The people who carry out this work are paid a pittance – yet they are putting their lives at risk. It takes a lot of work and many old computers to extract this amount of copper. And it may earn the worker enough for one meal. Just one meal!
Health concerns are dire. Breathing in toxic fumes day after day, many workers are said to die of cancer and other illnesses by the time they’re 20 years old.
The Waste Economy
According to the United Nations, about 80% of the e-waste produced in North America and Europe is shipped (often illegally), to developing countries where it is disposed of.
It’s often referred to as “The Waste Economy”.
Companies keep producing more and more (capitalism), with planned obsolescence built-in (so things don’t last long). We keep buying more and more (consumerism). And so we all generate the waste economy.
E-waste is the major flow of waste in the world, growing faster than any other type of waste. There’s more than 40 million tons of e-waste every year – and it’s growing rapidly. Developing countries are now also adding to the waste economy as electronic gadgets become more affordable.
Who Would Have Guessed?
Who would have guessed there is such profit in e-waste recycling – and so much human misery, ill-health and damage to the environment?
Many people in developing countries used to rely on traditional production techniques – subsistence farming for example. It wasn’t an easy life. But now there are entire cities such as Guiyu in China where most families are involved in e-waste recycling. They have few other options. The pay is abysmal, the damage to health is severe, and the environment is totally degraded, sterile and toxic.
I leave you with a thought from the photographer, Valentino Bellini.
Bellini believes most major IT corporations are culprits in the world’s e-waste crisis, because they deliberately design products with a short lifecycle, so they need to be replaced quickly. “They are guilty because they use materials and highly toxic substances in their products, despite [the fact that] today’s technology allows for substitution with less hazardous or even harmless materials. And they are guilty when, at the end of the life-cycle of the product, they do not take charge of its disposal,” he says.
And he’s right! But we also have to take our share of the blame, for buying all this “stuff”.
So, next time you are tempted to buy some new, cool piece of electronic wizardry, remember these photos.
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Do you send your old electronics for recycling? Do you have any way of knowing what happens to them? Let me know in the comments below.
Warm regards,
P.S. Don’t forget to download your free green living handbook “Live Well, Live Green” here.
Related:
- Instead of buying new, is there something you could share, if you’re not using it all the time? (You could make money from it too). See how here.
- How many batteries do you use at home? A few? More than a few? Is that a problem, or not? Find out here.
[…] See why, here. […]