Some have said it's an interesting thesis, the "Tinkerer's Blessing", and the risks of "Environmental Malpractice". Search those terms in the box to the right. The "Motherboard.tv" article has gained a lot of traction, in part because it accepts the premise that non-profit anti-export advocates mean well. But perhaps we have put too fine a point on it.
If you are doing a term paper on "environmental justice", or on a topic I call "environmental malpractice", or simply researching the export of recycling generally, here's the truth.
A small non-profit in Seattle publicly accused African and Asian reuse traders of buying USA waste in order to burn it on the ground, of polluting or dumping. The NGO accused the African and Asian traders of being motivated by "externalizing the cost" of American E-Waste companies.
The USA NGO, Basel Action Network, has repeatedly told the press that 80% of the used electronics exported are recycled in "primitive" processes, coining phrases like "reuse excuse" and "digital dump" (rather than "digital divide").
As a result, African, Middle Eastern, and Asian reuse factories have had their goods seized, have had their import permits revoked, and have been forced into smuggling channels with less responsible suppliers.
There is no "habeus corpus" linking these people to the dumps. It's "To Kill a Mockingbird" in the digital age.
In fact, independent researchers have found the opposite. Most of the junk shown at African dumps was NOT recently imported, but comes from cities like Lagos (20 million residents, 7 million households with television). The importers there, according to independent sampling of 279 sea containers, achieve 91% reuse... that's 9% not 80% recycling. And it is a better reuse rate than brand new product sales in Africa!
If you are doing a term paper on "environmental justice", or on a topic I call "environmental malpractice", or simply researching the export of recycling generally, here's the truth.
A small non-profit in Seattle publicly accused African and Asian reuse traders of buying USA waste in order to burn it on the ground, of polluting or dumping. The NGO accused the African and Asian traders of being motivated by "externalizing the cost" of American E-Waste companies.
The USA NGO, Basel Action Network, has repeatedly told the press that 80% of the used electronics exported are recycled in "primitive" processes, coining phrases like "reuse excuse" and "digital dump" (rather than "digital divide").
As a result, African, Middle Eastern, and Asian reuse factories have had their goods seized, have had their import permits revoked, and have been forced into smuggling channels with less responsible suppliers.
There is no "habeus corpus" linking these people to the dumps. It's "To Kill a Mockingbird" in the digital age.
In fact, independent researchers have found the opposite. Most of the junk shown at African dumps was NOT recently imported, but comes from cities like Lagos (20 million residents, 7 million households with television). The importers there, according to independent sampling of 279 sea containers, achieve 91% reuse... that's 9% not 80% recycling. And it is a better reuse rate than brand new product sales in Africa!
