The Dark Side of E-waste

Chris Rodinis
December 7th, 2012

http://www.swarthmorephoenix.com/

Innovation’s Ripple Effect

Innovation looks like this: faster, better, cheaper, more powerful, more user friendly, more useful, more sleek, more miniaturized, more durable, more reliable, more efficient, less time consuming, less power consuming, more sustainable, less carbon footprint, more green, more creative, more disruptive, more converged, more mobile, more socially responsible…….not to mention More for the Masses!

So what is the net cost of all this “innovation?” One cost to determine is the cost of disposal. Perhaps to an individual there may be no apparent cost other than throwing it away illegally or recycling it responsibly. Dig deeper and we find other issues concerning the making and disposing of electronics.

The fastest growing category in recycling is E-waste; which is having enormous ripple effects around the world.

These ripple effects are known in some circle as “environmental injustice.”
This means large groups of people are suffering more than their share because of massive hardware technology output.

Conflicts Over Resources

To begin with, some of the raw materials used to manufacture cell phones are mined and produced in war torn parts of the world. And one reason for these wars are for control over the mines!

Since 1998 the DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo)has financed its civil war with revenues from metals mined that are destined for use in cell phones and other popular electronic gadgets.  Accompanying these ill gotten gains are a host of issues like great loss of forest land, breathing problems for miners, and many million death.

To better see the big picture, consider the fact that creating one ounce of gold ore for electronic uses causes 16,000 pounds of waste. And though manufacturers claim to never purchase raw materials from bad actors, fraud in emerging countries is difficult to avoid.

Of course too, the mishandling of these types of materials results in environmental negligence or in some cases disaster.

After raw materials are purchased they are sent to plants in China. People in places like Guiyu are willing to take risks that other are not. They see dealing with toxic chemicals and hazardous waste as a risk they must take in order to survive.

Employees are exposed to toxic chemicals on a daily basis and hopefully they have protective gear, but we know some do not. Overseas recycling facility waste contributes to air and water hazards.

Another factor to consider is that approximately 30% of emissions throughout the life of a device such as a cell phone are caused by the person using it.

In other words, all the calling, texting, streaming, and charging cause more global warming!

So far there is no solid proof of a direct connection of cell phone radio waves causing immediate health damage to humans, however, studies continue.

End of Life Choices

At the end of life of a device, there are take back programs are available, but few consumers use them.

Often times this leads to illegal landfill dumping which pollutes ground water or overseas incineration that pollutes the air.

So what is to be done about the explosion of electronics and the problems it poses?

One way to resolve some of these problems is for consumers to choose alternatives.

Another way is for manufacturers to engineer and design the devices so that they have less impact on the environment from beginning to end.

For responsible recycling of electronics please contact:
www.EwasteWiz.com