Page 17 - Nile Explorer Issue 007



were shipped to Hong Kong, Latin
America and the Caribbean. The shelf
 two years, but the EU, US and Japanese
life of a mobile phone is now less than

governments say many hundreds of
millions are thrown away each year or
are left in drawers. In the US, only 12
million mobile phones were collected

 ‚ for recycling in 2011 even though 120
million were bought. Meanwhile, newer
phone models are racing on to the

Photo: A young girl stands near stacks of used electronics at the electronic waste shelter market leaving old ones likely to end up
in landfills. Most phones contain
in Jombang, East Java. © AFP via Getty Images
precious metals. The circuit board can
he global volume of electronic lifetime of products is also shortening.” contain copper, gold, zinc, beryllium,
T waste is expected to grow by 33 Although it is legal to export discarded and tantalum, the coatings are typically
percent in the next four years, when it goods to poor countries if they can be made of lead and phone makers are now
will weigh the equivalent of eight of the reused or refurbished, much is being increasingly using lithium batteries. Yet
great Egyptian pyramids, according to sent to Africa or Asia under false fewer than 10 percent percent of mobile
the United Nations StEP initiative, pretences, says Interpol. “Much is falsely phones are dismantled and reused. Part
which was set up to tackle the world’s classified as ‘used goods’ although in of the problem is that computers,
growing e-waste crisis. Last year nearly reality it is non-functional. It is often phones and other devices are becoming
50 million tonnes of e-waste were diverted to the black market and increasingly complex and made of
generated worldwide — or about seven disguised as used goods to avoid the smaller and smaller components.
kilograms for every person on the costs associated with legitimate When China banned 24 kinds of solid
planet. These are electronic goods made recycling,” said a spokesman. “A waste last September, countries such as
up of hundreds of different materials substantial proportion of e-waste the U.S., the United Kingdom, Australia,
and containing toxic substances such as exports go to countries outside Europe, and Japan realized they had a big prob-
lead, mercury, cadmium, arsenic and including west African countries. Treat- lem. Until last year, China accepted 70
flame retardants. An old-style CRT ment in these countries usually occurs percent of the world’s electronic
computer screen can contain up to three in the informal sector, causing signifi- waste—discarded computers, cell
kilograms of lead, for example. cant environmental pollution and phones, printers, televisions, micro-

Once in a landfill, these toxic materials health risks for local populations,” he waves, smoke alarms, and other
seep out into the environment, contam- said. electronic equipment and parts. After
inating land, water and the air. In Few countries understand the scale of China stopped accepting this e-waste
addition, devices are often dismantled the problem, because no track is kept of out of concern for its environment,
in primitive conditions. Those who all e-waste, says the European Environ- Europe and North America began
work at these sites suffer frequent bouts ment Agency, which estimates between shipping more of it to Southeast
of illness. 250,000 tonnes and 1.3 million tonnes Asia—but now Vietnam and Thailand,

An indication of the level of e-waste of used electrical products are shipped whose ports have been overwhelmed,
being shipped to the developing world out of the EU every year, mostly to west are curbing imported e-waste as well.
was revealed by Interpol early last year. Africa and Asia. “These goods may Electronic devices are made of a
It said almost one in three containers subsequently be processed in dangerous complex mix of materials that include
leaving the EU that were checked by its and inefficient conditions, harming the gold, silver, copper, platinum, palladi-
agents contained illegal e-waste. Crimi- health of local people and damaging the um, lithium, cobalt and other valuable
nal investigations were launched against environment,” said a spokesman. elements. The U.S. Environmental
40 companies. “Christmas will see a A study by the Massachusetts Institute Protection Agency (EPA) says, “One
surge in sales and waste around the of Technology suggests that the US metric ton of circuit boards can contain
world,” says Ruediger Kuehr, Executive discarded 258.2 million computers, 40 to 800 times the amount of gold and
Secretary of StEP. “The explosion is monitors, TVs and mobile phones in 30 to 40 times the amount of copper
happening because there’s so much 2010, of which only 66 percent was mined from one metric ton of ore in the
technical innovation. TVs, mobile recycled. Nearly 120 million mobile United States.” These precious materials
phones and computers are all being phones were collected, most of which can be reclaimed through recycling. •
replaced more and more quickly. The
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