eWaste, China, and your Basement
Posted by Mark Ontkush in Green computing | 9 January 2007
I was reading an article this morning that summarizes a paper on how the EU directives on eWaste will affect the entire world. Pretty good piece, but I noticed that it kept using the 'C' word which bothered me. I decided to try and get to the root of the problem. Natch, The 'C' word refers to China.
Anyone who does their own quasi-research on Google will realize that it seems like most wasted electronic goods are sent to China. There are hundreds of articles, many of them old, that document places as Guiyu, often accompanied by disturbing pictorials. The article referenced above supported this as well:The United Nations Environment Programme estimates that the world's population discards 20 to 50 million tons of electrical and electronic waste each year and predicts the mount will increase by 3% to 5% each year. Much of that waste ends up in China.
and
"So far, the policy in the United States has been to ship it to China," Selin said. "I'm not sure how long China will think this is a good idea. The most practical thing I can think of is to increase recycling. I think the federal government will follow the states."
The funny thing about this for me was that I remember reading that China banned eWaste imports back in 2004. Oh wait, they banned it in 2002. Oops, hold on, China put their foot down all the way back in 2000. Aha, I think I see the problem. Maybe banning something in China doesn't mean jack, kind of like when the EPA bans DDT but allows unlimited exemptions for emergency use.
The other thing that struck me was I wondered how much eWaste was getting shuttled over there, when experts agree that 75 percent of eWaste is being warehoused in your basement. You know, its those keyboards in the cupboard, those broken cell phones, that old TRS-80 Color Computer you're just dying to hook back up to your television. If China is the processing plant, we are definitely the warehouse.
So, is China still accepting eWaste? I seriously couldn't figure it out, I will need a few days to come up with a good opinion. One thing seems certain though; if "business as usual" - that is, kids are running through mountains of waste getting lead poisoning - is still standard, then there's no law. And by the way, from the same article it appears that China really, truly banned eWaste in 1996.
