UNEP Study: The Dangerous 15%
"Risks and Opportunities of E-Waste"
("BAN-shes, cullet, aqua-regia... Oh My.")
Again, it's too bad that UNEP gave "Opportunity" second billing. I suspect it keeps peace with the OEMs they are fawning over, papers over the embarrassing assumptions about "waste tourists" and "African criminals", and slowly re-acclimates us to the fact the glass is about 85% full.
There is indeed risk. Not as much as mining, or dry cleaning, but the Center for Disease Control and OSHA do have rules. Africa needs to gather the CDC and OSHA rules, as Retroworks de Mexico has done. We all need to prioritize risks and benefits, and do so without hysterics. Fair Trade Recycling doesn't want to be apologist for toxics.
So let's talk about the toxic risks. What are the most dangerous recycling processes for e-waste in Africa, India, etc? How do these compare with, say, dry cleaning, painting, or automobile repair?
At the Pan-African Congress WR3A is attending this month in Nairobi, the deal on the table is the same as Product Stewardship in California... stop import/exports in return for OEM money to recycle.
Africans would stop importing newer material, enforce "e-waste" planned obsolescence laws, and in return Europe will pay them top dollar for a cocktail recipe of sea container scrap... printed circuit boards, power supply, copper, and other scrap. Something Europe would have paid for anyway, without any such anti-reuse compromise.
Let's look at the 9 or 10 very worst e-waste processes in Africa, and whether Africans can fix those themselves, on their own terms, before taking OEM devil deals. Mining the metals like lead and coltan for the OEMs produces most of the harm in Africa.
Top 10 E-Waste Recycling Toxic Concerns for Africa:
"Risks and Opportunities of E-Waste"
("BAN-shes, cullet, aqua-regia... Oh My.")
Again, it's too bad that UNEP gave "Opportunity" second billing. I suspect it keeps peace with the OEMs they are fawning over, papers over the embarrassing assumptions about "waste tourists" and "African criminals", and slowly re-acclimates us to the fact the glass is about 85% full.
There is indeed risk. Not as much as mining, or dry cleaning, but the Center for Disease Control and OSHA do have rules. Africa needs to gather the CDC and OSHA rules, as Retroworks de Mexico has done. We all need to prioritize risks and benefits, and do so without hysterics. Fair Trade Recycling doesn't want to be apologist for toxics.
So let's talk about the toxic risks. What are the most dangerous recycling processes for e-waste in Africa, India, etc? How do these compare with, say, dry cleaning, painting, or automobile repair?
At the Pan-African Congress WR3A is attending this month in Nairobi, the deal on the table is the same as Product Stewardship in California... stop import/exports in return for OEM money to recycle.
Africans would stop importing newer material, enforce "e-waste" planned obsolescence laws, and in return Europe will pay them top dollar for a cocktail recipe of sea container scrap... printed circuit boards, power supply, copper, and other scrap. Something Europe would have paid for anyway, without any such anti-reuse compromise.
Let's look at the 9 or 10 very worst e-waste processes in Africa, and whether Africans can fix those themselves, on their own terms, before taking OEM devil deals. Mining the metals like lead and coltan for the OEMs produces most of the harm in Africa.
Top 10 E-Waste Recycling Toxic Concerns for Africa:
