e-Waste R. Reaume

Terms e-Waste: Discarded electronic or electrical devices or their parts. e-Waste Trade: International Trade and Traffic of electronic waste. e-Waste Mgmt: Minimize costs of recycling, building a positive corporate image, complying with regulations and extending product lifespans.

Causes Rapid changes in technology Changes in media (tapes, software, MP3) Falling prices Planned obsolescence Leads to large surplus of electronics

In Ontario EHF fees (environmental handling fee) OES (Ontario Electronic Stewardship) Not-for-profit industry organization that oversees the responsible reuse and recycling of waste electronics Diverted more than 100,000 tonnes of electronic waste from landfill

China What is one of the largest reasons that eWaste trade flourishes in China? They ship so many containers of goods to North America that would all normally come back empty. It’s just easy to load them up with our waste and exploit their own workers to make a profit.

India Barrels of acid used to strip circuit boards are dumped into the sewer and products are burned in the open air despite Indian laws against this practice. Workers wear no protective masks or gloves. The owner of one of these scrap yards says, “If your country keeps sending us the material, our business will be good.”

Africa Western companies found that they could label their garbage computers as ’donations’ and send the non-working computers to Ghana to dispose of them. Africa’s environmental challenges are growing by the day, including the exponential growth of electronic waste.

A Chinese child sits amongst a pile of wires and e-waste A Chinese child sits amongst a pile of wires and e-waste. Children can often be found dismantling e-waste containing many hazardous chemicals known to be potentially very damaging to children's health.

In Ghana lies the Korle Lagoon, one of the most polluted bodies of water on earth, filled with old computers and their contaminants. There is no method of protection from the fumes the workers breath while burning plastic and heavy metals every day.

Digital Dumping Ground Ghana Digital Dumping Ground Part 1 Part 2

How Can You Help Educate yourself Recycle hazardous waste properly (batteries) Recycle to reputable companies Build awareness

Assignment (Webpage) Answer the following questions: What is the Basel Convention, and how is Canada affected? What is the largest component of e-Waste in Canada? How is the Canadian government dealing with e-Waste? What changes (min 3) can be made global to improve the e-Waste crisis? Write a detailed idea how we can help the students of MTS become more aware of e-Waste and how we can implement this. (ex. Old Cell Phone Depository)