eDump
Have you ever considered where the electronic wastes that are thrown out eventually end up? Sadly, the majority of our electronic wastes, often called e-wastes, are imported overseas to developing nations. China, India, and Thailand are just a few of the countries who deal with the e-wastes of developed nations. Once in developing nations, the computers, TVs, and other electronic devices are broken down into their component parts and these parts are sorted, recycled, and re-sold or thrown away. E-wastes contain large quantities of hazardous materials-a danger to the environment and people. As a result, regulations have been implemented to control the shipments of e-wastes from industrialized to developing nations. All industrialized countries, with the exception of the United States, have signed onto the Basel Convention, a convention which states that it is illegal to import e-wastes without permission to areas outside their borders. However, the wastes that have already accumulated in large quantities in developing nations have caused serious damage to the environment and have greatly affected the health of the people.
Large corporations need to take responsibility and decrease the number of toxic substances they utilize in the manufacturing of their products. Environmentally safe chemicals have been found for some of the substances, thus reducing the amounts of lead, mercury, antimony, cadmium, and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE) which can cause significant amounts of harm to people and the environment. The public and market competitors have increased the pressure on major corporations to find alternative chemicals for their products, thus decreasing the number of companies that still use toxic chemicals in their production processes. However, more pressure for change is still needed.
The government is often in charge of regulating and ensuring that corporations follow the laws regarding proper disposal of waste and protecting the environment. However, because of the power that many corporations have over the political groups in the international economic world, governments often hesitate to impose harsh regulations and policies for fear that the corporations will move their companies to other countries with fewer regulations. It is more economically beneficial for American companies to ship their electronic wastes to developing nations. The people in developing nations are willing to work long hours completing monotonous task for little pay. Many companies do not care whether or not their actions are unethical.
People employed in the e-waste business are constantly exposed to toxic chemicals. Poor ventilation and improper safety protection, or often no protection at all, leaves the people in this business inhaling and handling a large amount of toxic substances. Most people work from their homes, literally turning them into factories and warehouses for electronic wastes. As a result, young children are exposed too because they cannot escape the smoky air or the large piles of wastes since their homes and their surrounding community are filled with the piles of metals and plastics that make up the industry. Since there are no other jobs available to these people, they continue to work in unhealthy and possibly lethal conditions to gain what little money they can to provide for their families.
TV’s, computers, cell phones, MP3 players and many other devices are bought and discarded with little thought by the consumer as to where they end up. The life cycle of an electronic device needs to be increased so that they are not discarded as frequently. Also, electronic products need to be made more from recycled materials or in ways that allow people to update their product so that they do not have to throw it away and buy a new one each time an new version becomes available on the market. Consumer demand for products made of recycled materials would force companies to alter their production processes to incorporate more environmentally friendly and recycled materials into their products if they wish to continue selling them. However, since many people are unaware of what happens to electronic wastes, one of the first areas that need to be addressed is educating the public on their electronic device footprints as well as providing suggestions for ways to reduce this footprint.
Zhao M. eDump. From Babelgum [Online]. Avail from: http://www.babelgum.com/118286/edump.html
[2007 Dec]
Related Links...
Basel Convention. Basel Convention on the control of transboundary movements of hazardous wases and their disposal. [Online]. Avail from: http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/hl-vs/iyh-vsv/environ/pbde-eng.php
Health Canada. PBDE flame retardants and human health. [Online]. Avail from: http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/hl-vs/iyh-vsv/environ/pbde-eng.php
[2009 Sep 3]
