DEVELOPING COUNTRY PERSPECTIVE WSIS FORUM 2010 Tuesday, May 11, 2010 BY DR. 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 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 m obsolete PCs per year compared to m 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 2005 Lagos, Nigeria 2005

500 Containers/month for “Re-use”

75% estimated as “junk”

Contamination Not Yet Measured

Accra, Ghana 2009 Accra, 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