WASHINGTON —
The fate of large quantities of hazardous electronic waste is unknown, according to a new report released today by Greenpeace. Although some electronic waste may be stored in consumers’ attics or garages, much is disposed of in landfills and incinerators or exported - often illegally - for dumping in Africa or for rudimentary recycling in Asia, with a harmful impact on health, safety and the environment.
Even in regions such as the European Union, where disposal of hazardous waste is subject to stricter regulation, there is no precise information on what happens to as much as 75 percent of e-waste, according to the Greenpeace report,Toxic Tech: Not in Our Backyard. In the U.S., this figure may be as high as 80 percent; the amount of hazardous e-waste that is reported for recovery in the U.S. includes some e-waste that is exported to developing countries. In the next year, this figure is expected to rise significantly as the TV industry switches from analog to digital signals, possibly spurring tens of millions of Americans to discard their TV sets.
“It is the scrap yard workers in Asia who are bearing the toxic burden of e-waste,” said Martin Hojsik, Greenpeace International toxics campaigner. They are exposed to a cocktail of toxic chemicals when the products are broken apart, polluting the water, air and soil of not only the scrap yards but the surrounding neighborhood. The mountain of obsolete electronic products is expanding at a huge rate as our consumption of electronic devices continues to grow rapidly.1”
In most newly industrialized countries, it is virtually impossible to estimate the amount of e-waste escaping any form of treatment or management. In India, however, the Manufacturers’ Association for Information Technology estimates that around 99 percent of domestic and imported e-waste – 143,000 tons per year – ends up in the informal recycling sector or is simply dumped.
Figures provided by four PC manufacturers – Apple, Dell, HP and Sony – that have developed take-back and recycling activities suggest that only about 10 percent of their own end-of-life products are recycled. The figures for mobile phones are even lower, with only 2-3 percent being recycled.
“Electronics manufacturers should address this toxic waste stream by increasing their collection of discarded products, introducing voluntary take-back programs and removing hazardous substances so they can be safely recycled,” said Rick Hind, Greenpeace U.S. toxics campaigner. “Only then can we be sure that the dangerous tide of e-waste is stemmed and won’t become a problem in anyone’s backyard.”
Notes to Editor
1 By 2008, the number of mobile phone users around the world is projected to reach some two billion, and sales of mobile phones are rapidly increasing in emerging economies as well – it is estimated that over 150 million new mobile phones will have been sold in China alone during 2007.
PC sales are growing globally (by 10.4% in 2006) – slowly in the US, Europe and Japan, but much faster in emerging markets. In China and India, sales of PCs have risen by around 400% in the last five-to-six years, and an estimated 750,000 PCs and 550,000 monitors were sold in Thailand during 2004.
45.5 million TVs were sold in the period 2005 to 2006, a growth of 3% from the previous year. This was driven by fast market growth in China (17%) and North America (8%). The shift to digital TVs in western countries contributes to the renewal of a saturated market.
62.7 million games consoles were sold in 2006. Growth of 14.9% in the year made it one of the fastest developing sectors in the field of electronic products. The market’s volume is expected to rise to 80.6 million units by the end of 2011.
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Contact: Jane Kochersperger, +1 202 319 2493; +1 202 680 3798 cell
Toxic Tech: Not in Our Backyard is available at:
http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/press-center/reports4/toxic-tech-not-in-our-backyard
The summary version is available at: http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/press-center/reports4/toxic-tech-not-in-our-backyard-2
Information on the recycling of electronic waste in India and China is available at: http://www.greenpeace.org/international/press/reports/recyclingelectronicwasteindiachinafull
