E-waste
Electronics companies focus on increased and periodical sales, often intentionally making their products difficult to repair and recycle. Electronic waste (e-waste) is piling up fast. In one of the most detailed studies of global e-waste to date, the United Nations University estimated that 41.8 million tonnes of e-waste was generated in 2014 alone.
E-waste, which includes mobile phones and computers, often contains toxic substances like mercury, lead, flame retardants and arsenic. These substances pose serious risks to the environment, especially in developing countries where most e-waste is dumped, often illegally. Only a small percentage of e-waste is recycled. And when it is recycled, it poses a risk to the health of the workers who handle it. Workers do not always receive adequate protection.
The GoodElectronics network advocates for strong regulation to reduce the illegal export of e-waste and a shift towards durability, reusability and recycling of electronics.
read more lessSeries for Responsible Investor (RI) Engagement: NGO Priorities for Electronics Companies
Series for SRI engagement 6
What a Waste
Three reasons why a ban on e-waste exports is … right
An editorial by Prof. Eric Williams of Arizona State University in Discovery News entitled ‘Three Reasons Why a Ban on e-Waste Exports is Wrong’, dated 10 August 2010, is responded to in kind on 13…
NGO comments on Indian e-waste legislation
The full concerns as brought forward by Toxics Link in August 2010. A summary: Objectives: The Objective of the Draft states that is to enable “recovery and reuse”, thereby relegating the objective to “safeguard environment…
SOMO conference on e-waste in Brussels
29 April 2010, SOMO organised a conference on the renewal of the European directive on electronic waste (e-waste). In June 2009 the European Parliament will vote on amendments to this renewal. E-waste is a growing…
Discarded mobile phones add up to tonnes of electronic waste in India
Toxics Dispatch #37 A huge amount of electronic waste is generated by discarded mobile phones in India. The Indian mobile phone market adds almost 10 million annual subscribers, writes Toxics Link in Toxics Dispatch #…
Delhi change maker eliminates e-waste
Do you know that India alone generates more than 4 lakh tones of electronic waste, which is highly toxic in nature and requires appropriate technology and process for its sound management?, writes Toxics Link. If…
Indonesia turns back illegal shipment of e-waste from USA “recycler
Seattle, Washington (1 March 2010). The Basel Action Network (BAN), an environmental watchdog organization, reported today that it had successfully prevented nine sea-going containers of hazardous electronic waste from a Massachusetts business calling themselves a…