space Press Releases, News Stories

By Rina Chandran, Business Line

10 April 2002 -- THE export of electronic waste, including computer monitors, circuit boards, colour television sets and other electronic devices, is creating significant environmental and health problems in the Third World. Yet, developed countries are doing little to stop the practice, according to a recent report from environmental organisations.

Industry sources estimate that between 50 and 80 per cent of the e-waste collected for recycling in the US is placed on container ships to China, India and Pakistan. The waste contains toxic ingredients such as lead, mercury and cadmium that pose occupational and environmental health threats. However, rather than face up to the problem, the US and other rich economies that generate most of the e-waste have made use of a convenient and, until now, hidden escape valve - exporting to developing countries in Asia. "The export of e-waste remains a dirty little secret of the high-tech revolution," notes the report, titled "Exporting Harm: The Techno-Trashing of Asia." "Scrutiny has been studiously avoided by the electronics industry, by government officials, and consumers, and is aided by the cynical labelling of this trade with the word 'recycling'."

The report notes that e-waste - which includes electronic devices and household appliances such as refrigerators and air-conditioners, cellular phones and computers - is growing exponentially in volume because advances in technology and rapid obsolescence have made everything disposable. The average lifespan of a computer has shrunk from four or five years to two years, and consumers prefer to replace rather than repair broken electronics. In 1998, it was estimated that 20 million computers became obsolete in the US, and the overall e-waste volume was 5 to 7 million tonnes. By 2005, it is believed that one computer will become obsolete for every new one on the market. In addition, stricter environmental regulations in the developed world have led to increased export of hazardous materials to poor countries, where labour is cheap and occupational and environmental protections are lax. "The export has been going on for at least 10 years but hasn't been very well known before," says Ted Smith, Executive Director of Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition, which advocates a clean high-tech industry. SVTC conducted the investigation of e-waste along with the Basel Action Network, a global watchdog network focused on toxic trade.

Other participants were Toxics Link India, Pakistan's Society for the Conservation and Protection of the Environment, and Greenpeace China. While the export is mostly a matter of economics - "it is 10 times cheaper to ship it all to Asia than to process it in the US," - Smith notes that US environmental policy also tacitly encourages the practice. "The US does not place any responsibility on producers for the life-cycle of their products," he says.

"Also, it has refused to sign the Basel Convention." SVTC is fighting to enforce the Convention, a 1989 United Nations treaty that sought a total ban on the export of all hazardous wastes from rich to poor countries for any reason. The Convention calls on all countries to reduce their exports of hazardous wastes to a minimum and deal with their waste within national borders. The US is the only developed country that has not signed it. Meanwhile, studies estimate that the volume of e-waste is increasing by 3 per cent to 5 per cent each year. Particularly disturbing is the "witches' brew" of toxic substances such as lead and cadmium in circuit boards; lead oxide and cadmium in monitor cathode ray tubes (CRT); mercury in switches and flat screen monitors; and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in older capacitors and transformers that release highly toxic dioxins and furans when burned. The effects of these toxins can be deadly: lead causes damage to the central and peripheral nervous systems, blood systems, kidney and reproductive system. Mercury can cause damage to the brain and kidneys, and carbon black in toners is possibly carcinogenic. Open burning, acid baths and toxic dumping of these materials cause pollution of the land, air and water. But US manufacturers refuse to eliminate hazardous materials, and government policies do not hold manufacturers responsible for end-of-life management of their products. "In the US, not only is it legal to export hazardous e-waste, but in fact, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act has been amended over time to actually encourage its export by exempting it from export controls of any kind," notes the report.

Additionally, as China begins to enforce its laws, more and more e-waste may flow to countries with even less infrastructure and enforcement, like India and Pakistan.

Already, e-waste recycling and disposal operations in the two countries are "extremely polluting and likely to be very damaging to human health," according to the report.

The import of hazardous waste into India is actually prohibited by a 1997 Supreme Court directive which reflects the Basel Ban. It is also illegal for Basel Parties, including India, to import wastes from the US because the US is not a Party. For countries that implemented the Basel Ban, including the European Union, exports to a non-OECD country are also illegal. "The philosophy is to be responsible from the cradle to the grave for electronic products," says Malini Mehra, founder and director of the social organisation Centre for Social Markets, which has offices in London and Kolkata. She contends that since there is a huge black market for the products in developing countries, the problem must be addressed from the supplier's end, where product responsibility actually begins. "Also, get companies to not plan on obsolescence but sustainability," Mehra says. This is one of the recommendations of the report, which calls for "continuing accountability" over the life-cycle of the products. It also suggests that producers be required to "take it back," so that the burden of a product's environmental impact falls on those who design it. Most important is a complete ban on hazardous waste exports so that the "poor of the world (do not) bear a disproportionate burden of environmental risk, particularly when they have not benefited from the products and services that created that risk."

"We think it's important for people to be aware of what's going on and rise up and put a stop to it," says Smith of SVTC. "It's a scandal that countries in Asia are allowing this to happen - they should be taking steps to protect the people."