E-waste a growing problem for China and India

Informal recycling industry is well established but hard to regulate

E-waste levels are set to rise significantly

Developing countries face the problem of creating mountains of electronic waste (e-waste) unless they improve their recycling facilities, according to a report from the UN today.

Sales of electronic products in countries such as China and India and across continents such as Africa and Latin America are set to rise sharply over the next 10 years.

In China, the report predicts that by 2020 e-waste from old computers will have jumped by 400 per cent on 2007 levels, and by 500 per cent in India.

Additionally, e-waste from discarded mobile phones will be about seven times higher than 2007 levels and, in India, 18 times higher by 2020.

China already produces about 2.3 million tonnes of e-waste domestically, second only to the US with about three million tonnes.

And, despite having banned e-waste imports, China remains a major e-waste dumping ground for developed countries, according to the report.

The problem is compounded by the fact that most e-waste in China is improperly handled, either incinerated by backyard recyclers to recover valuable metals such as gold, or sent to landfill.

"This report gives new urgency to establishing ambitious, formal and regulated processes for collecting and managing e-waste via the setting up of large, efficient facilities in China," says UN under-secretary general Achim Steiner, executive director of UNEP.

"China is not alone in facing a serious challenge. India, Brazil, Mexico and others may also face rising environmental damage and health problems if e-waste recycling is left to the vagaries of the informal sector."

Facilitating exports of critical e-waste components such as circuit boards or batteries from these countries to OECD-level certified end-processors would help reduce the amount of waste processed in the wrong way, the report says.

And boosting developing country e-waste recycling rates can have the potential to generate decent employment, cut greenhouse gas emissions and recover a wide range of valuable metals including silver, gold, palladium, copper and indium.

But developing working national recycling schemes is complex and simply financing and transferring high-tech equipment from developed countries is unlikely to work because the informal alternatives are now well established and cheaper.

The report recommends countries establish e-waste management centres of excellence, building on existing organisations working in the area of recycling and waste management.

EU nations have introduced their own e-waste laws, but the regulations are difficult to police as much waste is shipped abroad to be processed.