The amount of old electronics or e-waste such as computers,
phones and TV's being discarded every year is growing rapidly. In
many countries it's the fastest growing type of waste as cheap
prices mean replacing electronics is cheaper than fixing them,
while low price often means low quality and a very short life
span.
As electronics increasingly become part of the throw away
culture in many developed countries, amounts of e-waste have
dramatically increased while solutions have often lagged far
behind. Even in the European Union (EU) that has tighter regulation
75 percent of e-waste is unaccounted for. Of the estimated 8.7
million tons of e-waste created annually in the EU a massive 6.6
million tons of e-waste is not recycled.
In the US there is very little regulation of e-waste. Less than
20 percent of US e-waste is recovered for recycling. The recycling
percentages for PCs (10 percent) and TVs (14 percent) are even
lower. The imminent switch to digital TVs in the US and elsewhere
will lead to a massive increase in the amount of redundant analog
TV's.
Even from the 20 percent of e-waste collected in the US much is
exported because the US is one of the few countries where it's
still legal to export collected e-waste to Asia and Africa.
E-waste dumped in China, with a label clearly indicating it was
collected for recycling in California.
The huge amount of e-waste not recycled can be accounted for
by:
- Storage: Often old electronics are stored in people's
houses. This only serves to delay the day they are finally
discarded and reduces the chances they could be effectively
reused.
- Landfill/Incineration: When mixed with domestic waste,
electronics will most likely end up in a landfill or incinerated.
Both methods allow toxic chemicals to pollute the environment.
- Reuse and Export: Old computers and phones are often
exported to developing countries for reuse or recycling. The vast
majority are crudely recycled in e-waste scrap yards causing
widespread pollution.
Digital Divide
Countries like India and China have long been a destination for
e-waste dumping by unscrupulous traders looking to make a quick
profit on e-waste from the US and Europe. Now the amounts of
domestic e-waste generated by these countries is growing fast. In
India only one percent of e-waste is collected for authorized
recycling.
Across Asia and Africa informal recycling yards have sprung up
where low paid migrant workers use primitive methods to extract
valuable metals. This informal recycling creates massive
environmental pollution and damages the health of workers and
residents in the area.
Even well intentioned shipments of computers for reuse are being
abused. In
Ghana many traders report that to get a shipping container with
a few working computers they must accept broken junk like old
screens in the same container from exporters in developed
countries. The broken junk and eventually even the working
computers inevitably ends up dumped in Ghana where there is no
infrastructure to safely recycle toxic e-waste.
Solutions
One clear solution is for the major electronics companies to
eliminate the worst toxic chemicals from their products and improve
their recycling programs. Having generated demand for the latest
new mobile phone or sleek laptop and made vast profits from sales
of electronics it should not be a problem the companies are allowed
to ignore.
Cell phones at a recycling plant. Only a fraction of old cell
phones are recycled.
In 2006 more than one billion cell phones were shipped
worldwide. However, Nokia (the market leader) recycles just 2
percent of the phones it sells.
The major computer makers do little better, with currently an
average recycling rate of just 9 percent. That means the major
companies don't recycle over 90 percent of their old products.
To address the rising tide of e-waste all manufactures must
offer free and convenient recycling of their products to all their
customers. Where companies are unwilling to do this, tough
legislation is needed to ensure electronics are safely recycled.
Japan has effective recycling legislation and Sony reports that it
collects 53 percent of it's old products in Japan. That's five
times better than the global average for major PC makers and shows
that solutions are already available.
Phillips singled out for bad behavior
While most companies accept responsibility for recycling their
own products, and are improving their recycling programs for
consumers, several TV companies are dragging their feet on
recycling with the majority offering no recycling for old TVs in
many countries. Of the TV companies, Phillips stands out by
publicly stating that recycling is the responsibility for the
customer and government and consumers should pay for recycling, not
the product makers. Behind the scenes Phillips lobbies to avert
legislation to make companies more responsible for recycling their
own products.
Basically Phillips is helping ensure the status quo remains,
that has lead to such a large e-waste problem. We have delivered
this report direct to Phillips and other companies to show how they
need to stop hiding from the problem of e-waste.
E-waste: The good, the bad and the ugly
Since August 2006 we have been ranking the major electronics
companies' efforts phase out toxic chemicals and improve recycling
programs - both vital steps to tackle e-waste.
Many companies have made big strides to improve their products
and recycling schemes since the introduction of the Guide. But no
company has so far succeeded in offering an entire range of
products free of the worst toxic chemicals or a comprehensive,
free, global takeback scheme to ensure responsible recycling.
Read the report