It’s the fastest growing type of waste: computers, phones, televisions, iPods and all the rest. The flip side to rapid advances in technology is that electronic products are becoming obsolete at an alarming rate, and the fate of much of the millions of tons of e-waste generated every year in the West makes for very grim reading.

The bad news is this: our favourite electrical items contain highly toxic materials which are harmful to humans and our environment. The problems really start when it comes to disposing of our used technology. A large proportion of the e-waste collected for “recycling” from the USA and parts of Europe is actually shipped to less developed countries, where the products are dismantled and separated using primitive technologies that expose workers to deadly levels of chemicals as they extract the metals, toners and plastics from computers and other e-waste.

"A sea of television housings, cathode ray tubes, monitors and other imported electronic  waste not salable at the Alaba market in Lagos, Nigeria,  is dumped here in a nearby swamp" (c) Basel Action Network

What to do? Clearly the only solution is to eliminate the worst toxic chemicals from electronics by finding alternatives, and to improve our domestic recycling programs so that we don’t have to use other countries as a dumping ground for our waste. The good news is that manufacturers are finally starting to take responsibility for what happens to their products after they leave the shelves. Realising the business benefits of “Extended Producer Responsibility”, many companies have voluntarily launched programs to take back and recycle our old products. Greenpeace has compiled a “Guide to Greener Electronics”, ranking the top 18 manufacturers of computers, phones, televisions and games consoles according to their policies on toxic chemicals, recycling and climate change.

Try www.greenmyapple.org for a heartening story of a “people power victory”. Disappointed by the environmental record of their favourite company, and urged by Greenpeace, fans of Apple’s products took matters into their own hands last year and launched a cyber campaign of blog posts, emails to Steve, homemade posters, photos and videos with the unifying message: We love our Macs. We just wish they came in green. Apple took note and declared a phase-out of the worst chemicals in its product range, but although it is improving its recycling scheme the company has yet to offer a 100% free take back policy. All the same, I think it’s really positive to see people using their creativity in this way to make change happen, and it’s also interesting to see campaigners trusting a company’s integrity to recognise their loyal customers’ ideals.

Another organisation taking an inventive approach to e-waste reduction is FreeGeek – “helping the needy get nerdy”. Free Geek volunteers recycle donated computers into refurbished systems, which are then loaded with Open Source Software and go on to provide low-cost computing (hardware and training) to individuals and not-for-profit organisations locally and throughout the world. They manage to kill two birds with one stone: reusing unwanted technology, and also giving people a chance to learn useful new skills for free and cooperate actively in their community.

You might be wondering where Cogapp’s old computers go to die. Magpie is a Brightonian recycling cooperative who not only collect our used paper and cardboard in their biodiesel vehicles, but also ensure that our defunct CRT monitors (the ones which we can’t get rid of on Freecycle) don’t end up in a local landfill or an African bonfire. As part of their Re-use IT! initiative to curb the amount of e-waste in the area, they disassemble, refurbish and recycle computers in Brighton and Hove.

In the words of Magpie, “It’s a waste revolution!”.

See also:

The Basel Action Network, for information on the Basel ban and some more sobering photographs of minority world e-waste “processing”.

Information on the WEEE (Waste Electrical Electronic Equipment) Directive, which came into effect in the UK last year.

Greenpeace – good article on e-waste.