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You Are Here: Home » Feature Articles » Europe’s e-waste in Africa
Discarded computer cases in Ghana
Despite the international regulations to prevent electronic waste from being dumped in developing countries, mountains of western e-waste are rising higher in Africa. Especially Ghana and Nigeria have emerged as new target countries for our used electronics. The implications of this waste industry are shocking for both environment and human health.
The global recession has not managed to tame our hunger for new electronics: more than one billion mobile phones are bought annually, the sales of LCD TV’s have grown more than 50 percent, and the business around cheap netbooks is booming. The sales of electronic devices keep growing in the same pace as their life span keeps shortening. Within few months the latest mobile phone is already old fashioned, the brand new computer too slow and the home cinema in need of some serious upgrade.
This regular and rapid discarding of old machines has resulted in a growing surplus of electronic waste. According to the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), between 20 million and 50 million tons of e-waste are produced per year. The EU’s share of this is estimated to be around 9 million tonnes. In many countries e-waste has already become the fastest growing type of waste. According to moderate estimations the annual amount of e-waste in the EU will rise to roughly 12 million tonnes within the next ten years.
Africa’s increasing demand for information technology, combined with its limited possibilities to manufacture it, has made it a famous destination for second hand electronics. According to BAN, a Seattle-based environmental group, up to 500 shipping containers loaded with second hand electronic equipments arrives monthly to Nigeria. This amount of containers can be estimated to equal with 100 000 computers or 44 000 TV sets.
In addition to electronics traders who buy usable and obsolete machines in bulk and send them to Africa, also several aid groups and organisations are encouraging people to donate their old electronics for African schools and hospitals. Although the idea is noble and the donations are usually done in good faith, there is also a negative side effect. According to local sources in Ghana and Nigeria, only around 25 percent of the western imports are actually usable, rest of them are electronic junk that can neither be used nor repaired.
The unusable e-waste ends up in unofficial dumpsites, where they are picked apart by unprotected workers (many of them children) in search of saleable metals. After all the metal has been removed, the remaining plastic, cables and casings are usually being burnt. These extraction methods are extremely hazardous to health: most of the e-waste contains toxins such as lead, mercury and chlorinated dioxins, not to mention the noxious fumes and chemicals released by the burning waste. According to Greenpeace, the samples collected in an e-waste dump in Ghana’s capital Accra contained toxic metals as much as one hundred times above normal levels.
Dumping of e-waste has been illegal since 1992, when the Basel Convention entered into force. According to this international treaty, export of any toxic waste -including e-waste- from OECD countries is strictly forbidden. However, in the European legislation the term “reuse” offers a loophole, allowing old electronics to be taken in countries like Ghana and Nigeria. Clearly, this loophole has to be closed. The EU has to put in place legislation and mechanisms to make sure that only usable electronics that are tested and certified can be sent to developing countries.
Although dumping of e-waste is generally acknowledge as a serious problem, there are also arguments stating that the waste export can also create positive effects. For example in China, the previous main target of western e-waste, there is a thriving industry around electronics recovery, supplying manufactures with raw materials. In a similar fashion in Lagos there is a robust market and ability to repair and refurbish old electronic equipment. The recovery industry might indeed give a new economic boost in Africa. However, we can not forget the hazardous e-waste extraction methods and the exploitation of child labour that are still at the core of this industry. For that end, HP, one the largest computer manufactures has recently launched a project for developing secure ways to handle e-waste and creating employment for local communities in Africa.
Although the waste and recovery industries might have some positive effects, it does not remove the main problem: we produce too much waste. To fight against the rising tide of e-waste it is important to improve the recycling rate of electronics. Currently only 25 percent of the 9 million tonnes of e-waste produced in the EU are properly recycled. It has to be made a responsibility of the manufactures to offer free and convenient recycling of their products to the customers. If needed, this possibility for recycling has to be secured through legislation. In Japan this kind of legislation already exists and, for example Sony has recently reported to be recycling 53 percent of its products in Japan. According to a UNU-study, ordered by the European Commission, the long-term recycling rate could and should be around 70 percent.
However, every attempt to reduce e-waste goes eventually back to the customers. Do we really need all the electronic devices we possess, is it absolutely necessary to have the latest mobile phone, the fastest computer and the widest flat screen? The least we can do, when buying a new electronic equipment, is to find out about different manufactures’ recycling programmes and their plans for eliminating the toxic chemicals from their products. And most importantly, when getting rid of the old computer or TV, we should try our best to make sure that they do not end up being picked apart in a dumpsite somewhere in Africa.
Credit: Marko Kananen
Source: Newropeans
Africa needs to pass anti-dumping regulations and zealously work to reduce the negative impact of e waste in Africa. Documentation alone is not the solution. We need an inspired leadership committed to securing Good heath for Africans.