Once, a fertile grazing land,

Now, a smouldering dumping ground,

Once, children would be able to obtain milk nutrition from the goats they raise,

Now, they scavenge the wasteland for toxic electronics to burn,

Once, the only thing these impoverished communities had was the land they stood on,

Now, we’ve stolen even that…

Digital dumping occurs when remnants of phones, computers and other devices 'expire usability' and this electronic waste - e-waste - is transported and discarded in third-world countries such as Ghana, Nigeria, Pakistan, India and regions of China. The ‘dumping’ is substantially implemented by European first world countries as “85% of containers illicitly arriving in Ghana with electrical goods came from Europe.”

What Europe needs is a legitimate recycling system; an ethical option where equipment is disassembled and basic components - plastic, glass, and metals - are recovered to manufacture new products, thus benefiting the manufacturing companies as well. However, the onslaught of unwanted goods replaced by new models has increased due to more European technology consumers expecting high-end lifestyles; an attitude that increases the severity of the dumping. From the European Council’s perspective, the cheapest option is to transport waste to third world countries – often under the guise of philanthropy – at a third of the price of proper recycling. The government must take responsibility for these harmful practices that occur by their countries’ companies.

The dumping of e-waste has destructive consequences on the human and natural environment. Burning of the toxic by-products of e-waste such as beryllium, mercury, and brominated flame retardants causes life-threatening health implications in poverty-stricken communities. These toxic by-products have also polluted the air and contaminated soil, while local water from wells have become hazardously undrinkable; wreaking havoc upon natural resources these communities relied on for centuries. Young children as young as nine scavenge dumpsites in search for valuable iron and copper; others burn devices in sweatshops for these trace-elements while inhaling lethal chemicals. Because of this, “82% of the Ghana population have serious lead poisoning.” The amount of e-waste currently shipped to third-world countries is predicted to “increase by 500% in the next decade” therefore the practice must be eradicated immediately before it escalates into something we cannot as easily reduce; before it’s too late.

This problem is an ethical issue which violates human rights. The practice contradicts the Millennium Development Goal 7, which aims to ensure environmental sustainability. Target 7C to “halve, by 2015, the proportion of the population without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation” is being directly violated through digital dumping. The impoverished communities who suffer from effects of digital dumping have been denied the access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation, thus sending Europe’s Millennium Development Goals backwards.

Janez Potocnik, and the rest of the Environmental Commission in the European Union must ensure Europe does not allow this devastating practice to continue; the people of Ghana are paying with their lives.

We need a pathway; Europe already has adequate collection and recovery systems and goals such as the European Association of Electrical and Electronic Waste (WEEE).

But this is not the problem.

The problem is where the e-waste is ending up after collection.

We suggest adopting a system in which there is a government endorsed company in charge of being ‘agents’ between the large manufacturing companies to the collection systems such as WEEE. Thus forging pathways for the waste to be directly returned to their origin and recycled into new products.

Fix the problem you created.