Readers know I'm following the coverage of the UN studies of Africa (Where are WEee in Africa" 2011) with great interest. Elizabeth at IFIXIT wrote a good piece, which was hommaged at Treehugger. The USA Voice of America (which, having lived in Africa, is important), covers the story pretty well, as does Science Daily.
You will remember we covered the first releases of the report HERE at Good Point Ethical Recycling blog in April, 2011, and have been squealing like pigs for 10 months, trying to get attention to it.
For those of us working and trying to help these emerging nations, there are babies in the e-waste bathwater.
Where the loads were studied most carefully (176 containers analyzed in Lagos), 70% were fully functional, and half of the remainder were repaired... that's 85% reuse. Moreover, the report says what we've been saying - this is a huge opportunity, if done correctly (e.g. with fair trade):
Here's a piece of friendly advice. If you are a white European expert on environment, and someone comes to you for a quote on the UN Study, you might want to read at least the executive summary. If you are a reporter, like Cal Milmo of the Independent, you may want to dig a bit next time a Nigerian is convicted of exporting e-waste.
UPDATE NOTE: I've now met Susanne Dittke of Envirosense via Skype. She is very smart and very interested in getting to the facts. She was alarmed that her quote was used as it was in the article below and has contacted the reporter to retract it, said she had not read the UN Report and hadn't realized the article was about something she hadn't even seen...
I've left some of the original "reaction" to the quote as it appeared in the trade press, but I do not want to imply any ill will on Susanne's part. Her role as the consultant to this South African e-waste recycling plant is extremely important. I'll write more about it in a future post. The use of her quote to "spin" the UNEP report was well in my no-fly zone, but she is a top notch asset to the discussion so long as the reporter tells her what the heck she is commenting on.
You will remember we covered the first releases of the report HERE at Good Point Ethical Recycling blog in April, 2011, and have been squealing like pigs for 10 months, trying to get attention to it.
For those of us working and trying to help these emerging nations, there are babies in the e-waste bathwater.
The value of this informal economy is difficult to gauge, although the formal and informal income of those engaged in the e-waste sector in Ghana is estimated to be between $106 million and $268 million per year. VOANews.comThe goal of our Fair Trade Recycling is to make this better, not worse. But we have to be realistic about banning the trade, taking the jobs away without studying them, as HR2284 will do. End of life and lifecycle science is spinning in its grave.
Where the loads were studied most carefully (176 containers analyzed in Lagos), 70% were fully functional, and half of the remainder were repaired... that's 85% reuse. Moreover, the report says what we've been saying - this is a huge opportunity, if done correctly (e.g. with fair trade):
In contrast to the informal recycling sector, where collection and recycling of E-waste is almost exclusively carried out by individuals largely consisting of migrant laborers who are often stigmatized in African societies as «scavengers», refurbishment is viewed as a relatively attractive economic opportunity for an increasingly well-educated, semi-professional labor force. In Accra (Ghana) and Lagos (Nigeria), the refurbishing sector provides income to more than 30,000 people.The report is not without all kinds of caveats and cautions. Clearly the authors are sensitive to the controversy of the imports of "e-waste" they are studying.
Here's a piece of friendly advice. If you are a white European expert on environment, and someone comes to you for a quote on the UN Study, you might want to read at least the executive summary. If you are a reporter, like Cal Milmo of the Independent, you may want to dig a bit next time a Nigerian is convicted of exporting e-waste.
UPDATE NOTE: I've now met Susanne Dittke of Envirosense via Skype. She is very smart and very interested in getting to the facts. She was alarmed that her quote was used as it was in the article below and has contacted the reporter to retract it, said she had not read the UN Report and hadn't realized the article was about something she hadn't even seen...
I've left some of the original "reaction" to the quote as it appeared in the trade press, but I do not want to imply any ill will on Susanne's part. Her role as the consultant to this South African e-waste recycling plant is extremely important. I'll write more about it in a future post. The use of her quote to "spin" the UNEP report was well in my no-fly zone, but she is a top notch asset to the discussion so long as the reporter tells her what the heck she is commenting on.
