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Growing Problems With Electronics Waste

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the good-foundations-for-neo-africa dept.

eldavojohn writes "The BBC is reporting that many countries are dumping their e-Waste in poorer African nations. From the article, 'The world's richest nations are dumping hazardous electronic waste on poor African countries, says the head of the UN's Environment Programme (Unep).' The problem with e-Waste (versus other wastes) is that the gases and chemicals that make up a lot of electronics are particularly harmful for the environment. I suppose nobody takes their computer, TV or Radio to the repair shop anymore since a new one is a fraction of that cost down at the local convenience store."

4 of 207 comments (clear)

  1. Ironically by Alioth · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Ironically, the EU regulation RoHS (which is intended to cut down on hazardous materials in electronics) is likely to make the waste problem worse - since it bans solder with lead in it. Lead free solder is quite inferior to leaded solder - it tends to be more brittle, and tin whiskers are more likely to form. This means electronics using lead-free solder will fail more frequently and earlier, and therefore need to be replaced more frequently, increasing the volume of waste - and probably more than negating the intended effect of RoHS in the first place.

    --
    Oolite: Elite-like game. For Mac, Linux and Windows
    1. Re:Ironically by sonamchauhan · · Score: 5, Informative

      > Will I get a replacement battery?
      Yes, for an old laptop, that could be a bad idea. :-)

      My experience: I sourced a replacement battery for a 5 year old Fujitsu laptop direct from Fujitsu who had it stocked all these years. Even though the new battery was virgin, it had deteriorated in storage.

      Instead, repack your battery ( http://www.google.com/search?q=repack+laptop+batte ry )

  2. Re:repairs vs new by mccalli · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I gave someone a quote of £175 to fix their laptop. They preferred instead to spend £339 on a new one. Even if the cost is lower for repairs people still prefer to buy new (which doesn't make much sense to me).

    £339 - £175 = £164. £164 for an upgraded laptop starts to sound ok, doesn't it. Now take broken'ish laptop and put on ebay and you reduce that £164 figure still further, depending on age and how broken it really is. Suddenly the choice is obvious - unless this laptop is a current model, you're as well geting rid and buying something more up to date.

    Cheers,
    Ian

  3. Ah, the old reverse 419 scam by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Hello, my name is Robert Johnson and I have recently come to aquire 10,000,000 computers that I need to smuggle out of the country...