Driven by an insatiable thirst for technology, Americans keep buying new devices and throwing away old ones, which become toxic electronic waste. While some companies prove to be ethical and responsible by recycling within national borders despite high costs and low profits, many others, more interested in profit than in protecting the environment, choose to export it to developing countries to save money.
Driven by an insatiable thirst for technology, Americans keep buying new devices and throwing away old ones, which become toxic electronic waste. While some companies prove to be ethical and responsible by recycling within national borders despite high costs and low profits, many others, more interested in profit than in protecting the environment, choose to export it to developing countries to save money.
Since the resale price of materials recovered through recycling has dropped considerably in recent years, technology companies prefer to ship their electronic waste to developing countries to avoid disposing of it domestically at higher costs. American companies that carry out separate waste collection face ever-increasing costs to safely dispose of old electrical and electronic devices in a responsible manner. As a result, they are losing business to companies that ship their tech waste overseas or leave it sitting in warehouses rather than processing it, explains Robert Houghton, chief executive of Hugo Neu recycling and Sage sustainable electronics.
The lead, mercury and cadmium found in many technological devices can poison those who handle them, seep into the soil and groundwater, and contaminate the air if burned. The Basel Action Network is an organisation named after the United Nations Basel Convention of 1989 and was founded by Jim Puckett in 1997 with the aim of stopping the export of hazardous waste. Its most recent investigation involves GPS-tracking the final destination of old hazardous electronic devices. The findings revealed that multinational corporation Dell and non-profit organisation Goodwill export electronic waste to many Asian countries, making life impossible for those who want to recycle responsibly. In Puckett's own words: "Electronic waste on the whole is worthless".
Our #trackingewaste report leads @CityofSeattle @EcologyWA et al. to look harder at #ewaste: https://t.co/WZtoSRyrJEhttps://t.co/aF6hUFSW6F
— KCTS 9 (@KCTS9) May 20, 2016
Although many US states have laws on disposal and the export of electronic waste, only the federal government has the power to enforce them. Strangely, in the United States it is not prohibited to ship electronic waste abroad, as it is the only industrialised country not to have ratified the Basel Convention on hazardous waste. American special waste often ends up in China, India and Ghana, even though these countries should not be importing this type of waste. Electronic waste is sold at ports, and those who buy it risk poisoning in the hope of making some extra money. Unfortunately, only 25 per cent of these exported items are repaired and reused.
According to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the United States generated 3.14 million tonnes of electronic waste in 2013, and every household owned an average of 28 electronic devices. The United Nations revealed that in 2014 only 16 per cent of the world's electronic waste was recycled. The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act promotes the self-management, export and disposal of hazardous waste; however, the EPA classifies much electronic waste as "non-hazardous", with the exception of cathode ray tubes with leaded glass used in older television sets and computer monitors.
As Jim Puckett has stated, Apple is one of the most responsible technology companies when it comes to recycling. The annual environmental responsibility report shows that in 2015 Apple recycled an amount of waste equivalent to 71 per cent of the total weight of merchandise sold by the company over the previous seven years, and diverted more than 40 million kilograms of electronic waste from landfill. Apple works with more than 160 recycling companies around the world that adhere to rigorous environmental, health, safety and social responsibility standards.
Most technology companies manufacture new devices instead of making smartphones and other products that are more durable, less toxic and easier to repair. Given the relatively low prices of electronic products, users prefer to buy new ones rather than recycled ones. This only makes the problem of special waste worse. However, one can choose to buy only sustainably produced devices, or to dispose of old ones by taking them to recycling facilities certified by the e-Stewards programme, which complies with the Basel Convention.
Translated by Francesca Clemente