DEVELOPING COUNTRY PERSPECTIVE

WSIS FORUM 2010Tuesday, May 11, 2010

BYDR. A’ISHA USMAN MAHMOOD

NIGERIA

PROBLEM OVERVIEW Hazardous e-waste dumping has spread

from Asia to Africa under the disguise of bridging the so-called digital divide

Resulted in the creation of digital dump with a global total of about 180m units per year dumped

E-waste is vast and growing with estimates of 20-50 million tonnes per year generated world wide (UNEP 2005)

PROBLEM OVERVIEW Recent studies(Science Daily, 2010) has

revealed a phenomenal development that by 2016 developing countries will generate twice as much e-waste as developed countries

Foresees that by 2030 developing countries will be discarding 400-700m obsolete PCs per year compared to 200-300m in developed countries

PROBLEM OVERVIEW In countries like China in Asia, the growing

economy has driven its demand for raw materials hence used electronics exported there are often recycled

However, in Africa e-waste is exported primarily for reuse to bridge the digital divide through donations, illegal trafficking etc

Most of these products (75%, BAN-2005) are near end- of- life products

E-WASTE IS HAZARDOUS

E-waste contains hazardous chemicals and metals such as: lead, cadmium and organic compounds of chlorine and bromine which pose significant threat to the environment and human health

INFORMAL (CRUDE) RECYCLING e-waste exported to the developing

countries are often handled and disposed of unsafely, due to lack of capacity and infrastructure for ESM of used electronics

Dangerous practices include: Bashing open CRTs with hammers

exposing the toxic phosphorous dust therein

Open burning of circuit boards to melt the lead solder hence breathing toxic lead fumes

INFORMAL (CRUDE) RECYCLING

Dangerous practices include (cont.): Burning wires to melt the plastics to

recover copper Open acid baths (nitric-acid) for

seperating metals Dumping pure acids and dissolved

heavy metals into the soils, drains and rivers.

SEEING IS BELIEVING!

In Developing Countries e-waste is dissembled crudely mostly by unskilled children and women exposing them to hazardous materials

( IMAGES COURTESY OF BAN)

Lagos, Nigeria 2005Lagos, Nigeria 2005

500 Containers/month for 500 Containers/month for “Re-use”“Re-use”

75% estimated as “junk75% estimated as “junk””

Contamination Not Yet Contamination Not Yet MeasuredMeasured

Accra, Ghana 2009Accra, Ghana 2009

Due to ease of externalization via globalization, developing countries are disproportionately burdened by pollution.

CALL FOR ACTION Need for stricker controls on the

transboundary movement of e-waste (Basel Convention)

Need to formulate national legislation to regulate the reuse of used electronic products

Manufacturers of EE products should be responsible for their products from the design stage to final disposal (cradle to grave)

CALL FOR ACTION This will prevent the cost of treating

hazardous waste being externalize to the developing world, which lacks the capacity

Take the lead by voluntarily phasing out all hazardous chemicals and materials from their products

Develop effective take back and recycling schemes for end-of-life products

Formalize the informal recycling sector by establishing state-of-art recycling facilities in the developing countries