EIA, "System Failure" - Green Customs Initiative

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS EIA wishes to thank the Rufford Foundation for its generous support of our work on electronic waste. Report design by: www.designsolutions.me.uk Investigations in this report were carried out in cooperation with Earthsight www.earthsight.org.uk May 2011 ISBN: 0-9540768-9-3 ENVIRONMENTAL INVESTIGATION AGENCY (EIA) 62/63 Upper Street, London N1 0NY, UK Tel: +44 (0) 20 7354 7960 Fax: +44 (0) 20 7354 7961 email: ukinfo@eia-international.org www.eia-international.org COVER: © Andrew McConnell/Panos CONTENTS 1 5 10 13 ILLEGAL TRADE IN ELECTRONIC WASTE EIA'S INVESTIGATIONS INTO E-WASTE SMUGGLING FIXING THE SYSTEM RECOMMENDATIONS
ILLEGAL TRADE IN ELECTRONIC WASTE THE GROWING PROBLEM OF ELECTRONIC WASTE Electronic waste, or e-waste, is the common term for electronic goods at the end of their ‘useful life’. Computers, mobile phones and televisions are all types of electronic goods classified as hazardous waste under the Basel Convention, an international treaty regulating crossborder trade in harmful waste. Due to the proliferation of electronic devices and accelerated technology advances, an increasing amount of e-waste is created every year. It is the fastest-growing waste stream in the UK, with more than one million tonnes generated annually. 1 Globally, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) estimates annual production of e-waste to be 50 million tonnes, of which only 10 per cent is recycled. 2 E-waste can be highly hazardous to both the environment and human health due to the substances it contains. A computer processor has an array of dangerous metals and chemicals such as antimony trioxide, polybrominated flame retardants, selenium, cadmium and mercury. Cathode ray tubes (CRT) found in older-style bulky TVs and desktop computers often contains large amounts of lead. As well as potentially harmful materials, e-waste may also contain small amounts of valuable metals such as gold and copper. A range of regulations at the international, regional and national levels govern trade in e-waste. The intent is to promote safe recycling of broken electronic equipment and to enable legitimate trade in used, working equipment. In reality, huge quantities of discarded e-waste end up being illegally traded around the world. The European Union, despite strong legislation, is a major source of e-waste which is illegally exported and dumped in developing countries. An estimated 75 per cent of e-waste generated in the EU, equivalent to eight million tonnes a year, is unaccounted for. 3 The destination countries do not have the infrastructure to recycle e-waste safely. Instead, it is processed manually in scrap yards with no consideration for health and safety. The e-waste is stripped down to components by hand. Copper wires are bundled and set alight to remove flame-resistant coatings, emitting toxic dioxins; CRT monitors are smashed with hammers, releasing plumes of lead and ABOVE: Children working at an e-waste dump in Ghana. © EIA 1
Page 1: SYSTEM FAILURE The UK's harmful tra
Page 5 and 6: The other source of e-waste comes d
Page 7 and 8: EIA'S INVESTIGATIONS INTO E-WASTE S
Page 9 and 10: The investigation revealed that whi
Page 11 and 12: stressed these machines were coming
Page 13 and 14: collected under a compliance scheme
Page 15 and 16: RECOMMENDATIONS EIA investigations

EIA, "System Failure" - Green Customs Initiative

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