For developing countries in areas such as West Africa and China, local workers often view e-waste processing as a lifeline. It’s a means to secure a meager amount of income to help keep food on the table. Often children and the elderly are used to abstract precious metals from discarded mobile phones, computers, monitors, wires and other electronic waste. However, most are unaware of the harmful effects that improper e-waste handling has on their health.
Unfortunately, these developing countries do not have the resources necessary to safely dispose of electronic waste so the lives of these laborers are being put at risk. Primitive methods like burning circuit boards, plastic and copper wires, or washing these electronic devices with hydrochloric acid are used in these regions to dismantle electronic waste and recover precious metals such as steel, copper and gold.
These hazardous practices contaminate the workers and the environment with the highly toxic concentrations of chemicals and heavy metals such as lead, arsenic, mercury and cadmium, while releasing hydrocarbon ashes. These toxins can leak into the groundwater and bioaccumulate in the food chain, causing detrimental damage to the soil, water supply, vegetation, animals and eventually the local residents.
When e-waste improperly recycled or is sent to landfills, there are negative effects on nearly every system and organ in the human body. It damages the brain, heart, liver, kidney and skeletal system. Electronic waste also affects the nervous and reproductive systems of the human body.
The e-waste problem is worsened when developed nations regularly export their toxic electronics by the tons to these developing countries who are not equipped or trained to properly handle the toxic materials. Currently, there is no legislation in the U.S. that bans such practices, but the Responsible Electronics Recycling Act has been reintroduced into Congress. This act could potentially make it illegal to export e-waste from the U.S. to developing countries.
The lack of legislation surrounding the exportation of electronic waste makes it imperative to choose an e-Stewards certified electronics recycler when disposing old cell phones and other end-of-life electronic devices. e-Stewards recyclers and their downstream vendors adhere to the most stringent global standards for worker safety and environmental protection. e-Stewards certified recyclers are regularly audited to ensure no e-waste is sent to landfills or exported to developing countries. The certification also prohibits the use of slave, coerced or prison labor in the processing e-waste.