Li 1

Kelwin Li
Gango-5
10/26/15
Global E-waste Trade
The Earth is an ever changing sphere of rock flying through space with countless
inhabitants. The Earth is unfortunately stuck with humans, perhaps one of the most impactful
species ever to litter the Earth. Similar to any organism in an ecosystem, humans contribute and
change the world around them in positive and negative ways. Mankind has, however, become
increasingly impactful; events such as the Industrial Revolution and Baby Boom have
significantly increased the niche that humans occupy and effect. Many lifestyles which emerged
during the 20th century have led to a use and toss mentality (Stefoff). While most citizens of
developed countries attempt to recycle in one form or another, many are not aware of what to do
with electronics. Proper disposal and recycling of electronic waste is essential to prevent further
harm to the environment and conserve natural resources, protect privacy of individuals and
groups, and reduce exploitation of developing countries.
Many countries rationed and recycled during World War I due to the limiting of resources
by the government (Brinker). Conservation sentiments returned during World War II but faded
away until the late 20th century (Brinker; Stefoff). As the recycling trend subsided, some
countries, specifically America, developed a use and toss mentality a mentality where
products are meant to be used and thrown away. This behavior is applicable to packaging,
furniture, and appliances and electronics. VCRs, for example, were built to be cheaper to throw
away and buy a new one than to repair. Manufactures and consumers valued convenience over
conservation (Stefoff).

Li 2
Around the 1970s, the people began to alter their mentality. Recycling and conservation
sentiments from the war resurrected, resulting in the birth and growth of green politics. In the
1970s, green politics were unheard of, today green politics [is a] global phenomenon (1
Global Green Politics). People believe that recycling is an easy way to conserve natural
resources. This statement is true for simple plastics, glasses, and metals because they produce no
toxic chemicals. Recycling electronics, however, is more complex and more difficult
(Halverson).
Millions of electronics are manufactured, bought, and thrown away in the U.S. annually.
The average U.S. household spending on consumer electronics per year was $1,312, with a total
of $206 billion across the nation. Each year electronics become smaller, faster, and lighter,
leaving old devices in the dust. Consumers purchase devices in order to keep up with the ever
expanding information that is available, therefore old and obsolete devices are disposed of.
Mobile devices, which includes cell phones, PDAs, smartphones, and pagers, are among the
millions of obsolete units thrown away. Mobile devices make up most of the electronics being
disposed at an estimated 152,000,000 units out of a total of 384,000,000 electronic units in 2010.
The tonnage of electronic devices disposed in 2010, whether it be trashed or recycled, is 2.44

millions, with 1.79 million trashed and .649 million recycled (Facts and Figures on E-Waste and
Recycling).
Responsible electronic waste recycling would protect the environment from the rapid
spread of pollutants. According to Jim Puckett, executive director of the Basel Action Network,
heavy metals, acids, brominated flame retardants and the lead and tin that are being heated up
are being produced by practicing cheap, improper recycling methods aimed to only salvage the
valuable metals (After Dump, What Happens To Electronic Waste?). Some of the heavy metals

Li 3
freed are leaked into the soil and water supply and the fumes produced rivers of ash and clouds
of orange smoke that were choking [Guiyu, China] (Halverson).
Trash facilities and recycling centers practice electronic waste recycling for different
reasons. Some do it for pure profit while others do it in order to reduce mankinds environmental
footprint (McCrab). The EPA estimates that 50 lbs of gold, 550 lbs of silver, 20,000 lbs of
copper, and 20 lbs of palladium can be recovered for every one million cell phones recycled
(Facts and Figures on E-Waste and Recycling). With this information it is apparent that
electronic waste is valuable. Unfortunately, the easiest and simplest method of extracting high
value metals locked inside computers, monitors, televisions, mobile devices, etc. is to burn it all
leaving only metals behind (Ghana: Digital Dumping Ground). This method causes many

pollutants to be released from their silicon prisons.

Cyber criminal groups also benefit from irresponsible recycling practices. The public
may think of nefarious computer hackers and rogue computer forensics experts when they hear
the phrase cybercrime. The truth is, however, that cybercrime is most prevalent in Ghana,
where people scour electronic waste for digital information. Although old hard drives may seem
worthless, some were found to still contain valuable information ranging from personal files to
top government contracts. Computer scientists from Regent University in the Ghanaian capital of
Accra were able to read old hard drives that were purchased from a digital dumping ground in
Ghana. One of the drives that the scientists analyzed contained a multi-million government
contract with Northrop Grumman (Ghana: Digital Dumping Ground).
Digital graveyards are the resting grounds of electronic waste. Old computers,
televisions, phones, and monitors lie here awaiting their fate, be it eternal slumber or a fiery
death. Electronic waste is often exported to digital graveyards overseas due to the fact that it is

Li 4
easier and cheaper to sell electronic waste than to recycle it domestically. Everyday fleets of
cargo ships export electronic waste from American ports to foreign dump grounds (Ghana:
Digital Dumping Ground). In many cases, irresponsible and dishonest recyclers in the U.S.
claim to take in electronic waste to recycle. In reality, however, such recyclers are shipping the
electronic waste they gather to developing countries about 80% of electronics is being shipped
across to countries such as China, Nigeria, India, Vietnam, Pakistan (After Dump, What
Happens To Electronic Waste?). In Ghana, shipments of old computers were initially sent as
donations. The shipments were welcomed by Ghanaians at first because they saw it as a way to
bridge the digital divide. Irresponsible recycling groups soon found out that they could take
advantage and export junk computers and label it as donations in order to dispose of their trash
in a cheap and easy fashion (Ghana: Digital Dumping Ground).
Many people may not be able to differentiate between responsible and irresponsible
recyclers. Take the case of Brandon Richter for example: Richter was the CEO of Executive
Recycling and was confronted with evidence suggesting that his company was illegally
shipping electronic refuse to scrap buyers in China. The publicization of their practices were
finally acknowledged when the story attracted attention from the government. After conducting a
two-year federal investigation Richer and Executive Recycling were convicted of fraud
(Halverson).
Dishonest recyclers do not operate independently. Bootleg recycling facilities typically
conduct business with scrap brokers. A conversation between Jim Puckett, executive director of a
watchdog group, and a Chinese e-waste broker revealed that electronic waste from America
finds its way across seas and to China despite laws from both countries preventing this trade. The
broker explains to Puckett that the complex buyer-seller relationships protects a U.S. recycler

Li 5
from trouble in the case that the Chinese government becomes aware of the importation of
electronic waste. The broker explains that if one would want to recycle electronic waste
environmentally extra money would be required. The extra cost is used to invest in machinery,
labor, and everything (Ghana: Digital Dumping Ground). The increased expenditure is
undesirable to groups that seek to maximize profit.
This illicit trade of e-waste often happens between a developed nation, such as Germany,
the U.K., and the U.S., and an undeveloped or poor area, such as Agbogbloshie, Ghana and
Guiyu, China. These poor areas have towns that are littered with old electronics mountains of
electronic waste are piled around. Because burning the waste is the simplest and cheapest way to
extract the metals, there are often burn sites located near the towns. In areas like these the
inhabitants lives revolve around this illicit trade. There is little to no other work that is viable.
Inhabitants work in hazardous work environments; any toxic substances that are not inhaled or
ingested by the workers end up in the atmosphere and soil. The air is often thick with smoke and
fumes creating rivers of ash and clouds of orange smoke.(Halverson).
Agbogbloshie is a suburb in Accra, Ghana and is one of the largest digital graveyards in
the world. The local burn site was immediately outside the city. Inhabitants of the city live in
slums and drift into the mountains of electronic waste to collect scraps gold, silver, and copper
left over from processed (cooked/burned) circuit boards. In more industrialized nations, the
thought of having children choking on toxic fumes and walking on freshly burned plastics would
be considered inhumane. At the very least, it would be considered a job for an adult fully clothed
in a hazmat suit. But in the apocalyptic-like landscape of these mountains of trash, that is exactly
what happens. A similar scene can be found in Guiyu, China: women labor over old electronics,
cooking them in order to collect valuable metals (Ghana: Digital Dumping Ground").

Li 6
Currently there are two major e-waste watchdog groups who look over any suspicious ewaste trade. The Basel Action Network and Electronics TakeBack Coalition have joined with
numerous recycling plants in order to start the e-Stewards program. The e-Stewards program is a
group of recycling companies committed to proper recycling through certification. Each
recycling plant is committed to recycling electronic waste responsibly and will be audited by
independent auditors in an accredited system with certifying bodies, et cetera (After Dump,
What Happens To Electronic Waste?).
There were initially flaws within the system because it was honor-based. Jim Puckett, the
executive director of the Basel Action Network, addresses the issue in an interview with NPR:
Yes. In seven years we had this case of a pledged e-Steward having been caught
out and we have had to deal with that internally. That company is now contracted
to be certified. They self-corrected themselves about a year ago. It was very
troubling that this was found out, that - I mean that this really occurred. But I
think that's a pretty good record in that many years of a system which was pretty
much an honor system which is now going to become that much more rigorous
with the full certification and third-party auditing methods. So that was at a time
when we didn't have that certification in place and we hope it's going to be far
more rigorously policed now ("After Dump, What Happens To Electronic
Waste?").
As the e-waste trade is becoming ever so slightly more well-known consumers are choosing
more responsible recycling plants. With more and more products being purchased with each
coming year more and more are expected to be disposed of, either via trash or recycle. Some
believe that electronic waste is currently the fastest growing form of waste. Recycling plants are

Li 7
springing up at a steady rate, many claiming to practice clean recycling (McCrab). Currently the
number of accredited recycling centers is growing in the European Union (Where Gadgets go to
Die).
One of the most effective ways to ensure that old electronic devices never end up in some
undeveloped country is to simply reuse. Since consumer electronics only end up in trash cans,
landfills, or recycling centers if theyre disposed of, the reuse of old devices and electronics
completely eliminates ones device from potentially ending up in the e-waste trade. The Basel
Action Network believes that reuse is always more environmentally sound (After Dump,
What Happens To Electronic Waste?). Even if a device is absolutely unable to function it is still
possible that components inside are usable and in good condition. Integrated circuits, capacitors,
resistors, and wires are still useful and usable, assuming they are intact. Many of these small
electronic bits and are able to serve as building blocks in projects for hobbyists.
Recycling is making a comeback from the years in the 20th century where Americans
adopted a use and toss mentality, however there are still some individuals unaware of some of
the effects of improper electronic recycling. As individuals influence more green political party
members to enter legislative positions it is essential that the public is familiar with responsible
recycling groups such as those within the e-Stewards program. As demand toward responsible
recyclers grow due to consumer demand the problems which the world is faced with pollution,
cyber security, and exploitation of developing countries will eventually be resolved.

Li 8
Works Cited
"1 Global Green Politics." The No-Nonsense Guide to Green Politics. 2010. eLibrary. Web. 10
Sept. 2015.
"After Dump, What Happens To Electronic Waste?" NPR. NPR, 21 Dec. 2010. Web. 10 Sept.
2015.
Brinker, Joseph. "Out of the Garbage-Pail and into the Fire." Popular Science Feb. 1919: 50-51.
Web.
"Facts and Figures on E-Waste and Recycling." Electronics TakeBack Coalition. Electronics
TakeBack Coalition, 25 June 2014. Web. 10 Sept. 2015.
"Ghana: Digital Dumping Ground." PBS. PBS, 29 June 2009. Web. 10 Sept. 2015.
Halverson, Matthew. "Basel Action Network Turns Back the Toxic E-Waste Tide." Seattle Met.
Seattle Met, 20 Mar. 2013. Web. 24 Sept. 2015.
McCrabb, Rick. "BRIEF: New $7 million recycling facility coming to Middletown." McClatchy
- Tribune Business News. 25 Aug. 2015 eLibrary. Web. 11 Sep. 2015.
Stefoff, Rebecca. Recycling. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1991. Print.
"Where gadgets go to die." Economist. 06 Sep. 2014: 9. eLibrary. Web. 05 Oct. 2015.