The Digital Dump
posted October 24th 2005 4:00PM
The New York Times takes focus on a report published today titled "The Digital Dump: Exporting Reuse and Abuse to Africa." The report, written by Seattle's Basel Action Network, says that "much" of the used computer equipment sent from the U.S. to developing countries for reuse in schools and such is "often" neither usable nor repairable creating some serious environmental issues in the world's poorest places. The report goes so far as to claim that U.S. recycling businesses purposely use a cloak of humanitarianism as a means of dodging proper recycling expenses. The report found that as much as 75 percent of the estimated 400,000 used computers received into Nigeria each month…are junk! And without the means to repair or recycle the equipment locally it ends up in landfills (like that pictured above) wreaking all kinds of toxic havoc. The EPA concedes that "inappropriate practices" have occurred and is working on a program to provide greater assurance that exports are environmentally sound. Fortunately, our interns handle all Engadget's recycling needs as part of the hazing process — eat a plasma, get a feature!
i posted this on my blog before engadget did. does this mean i can have a job? no? come on guys!
"The report found that as much as 75 percent of the estimated 400,000 used computers received into Nigeria each month".
Apparently the shortage of usable computers hasn't effected their ability to send us spam and scam emails. Perhaps our "dumping in the name of humanitarianis" is in indirect exchange for the US people they're ripping off with their scam emails.
http://MobileOptimized.com
No wonder they try and pull e-mail scams on us. The US is poisoning them with our crap. I saw a writeup a while back, don't remember where, the same thing happening in like china. Villagers were appearantly dieing as they took chips off our old crap, dipped them in mercury to clean them off, and sorted them in baskets. They sold it to people who made new stuff with it. So, be weary if you can get say a gross of RS-232 controller ICs from china real cheap. A whole village died for whatever that piece of crap is you are building.
Hallo,
My name is Benjamin Objibwew. I represent a wealthy Nigerian businezsman whose fortun have been tied up as a result of...
I bet they're all iPod nanos.
Sorry, couldn't resist.
Even a 3rd world nation would refuse a scratched product.
is this a surprise to anyone? we are a spoiled society which cares NOTHING about the rest of the world around us.
i am appauled but not so naive as to think this wasn't happening somewhere.
this country needs to start taking responsibilty for its own crap and put in place ways to minimize our plague on the rest of the world.
btw, how's that Kyoto treaty going?
Records, CDs and Ipods... guess which one still plays music when it is scratched?
Stoneman, you are really stretching there in your attempt to bash the iPod. Besides, iPod sctatch jokes are soo last week. Don't tell me you didn't get that memo?
A. Davis & cecil, you guys amaze me with your ignorance.
What we need are recycling centers that don't make you pay to recycle something. I know money doesn't grow in trees to fund recycling centers, and nobody wants to spend taxes on them either. But when it costs me $20 to recycle my monitor, rather then throw it in a dumpster for free, recycling becomes less interesting.
- Free broken monitor!!
- Location: my living room floor
Uh, it's, like, the New York Times. And they're just regurgitating a press release from some advocacy organization. I'm willing to bet you a billion Nigerian pesos that reality is not QUITE as bad as it is made out to be in this article.
If it turns out that a real news source corroborates the story, then maybe I'd care. But the Times is staffed by liars. Don't get your panties in a bunch.
Tupper,
I'm just kidding. I really like the nano, and I'm actually thinking about switching to an iMac next year. I just can't resist poking fun.
'natch
The Digital Dump: Exporting Re**F**use and Abuse to Africa. Just thought I'd point out the typo :)
I wonder if this applies to Dell and Goodwills (fairly) new computer recycling program? http://www.sfgoodwill.org/sfbacrp/
Isn't Japan worse than us in the US in this regard, their society is OCD when it comes out to throwing out usable equipment and getting the latest and greatest--- at least we (overall) use our gear until it dies! Sounds like another Liberal/EU/UN Tree hugging swipe at the US--- that is sooo old,.
With comments like Davis and cecil I have come to the conclusion that engadget is the stomping grounds of uneducated school kids who are so stupid they dont get the fact that just because it says its from Nigeria doesnt mean it is. Congratu-freaking-lations you two. You have successfully decreased the overall IQ of the readers of engadget by 20 points. Give yourself a pat on that back and a kick in the ass.
Miguel,
If you have to ask, you don't know so shut up. For all you know Japan has a national recycling system setup. Right Wing reactionary psychopath.
I think everyone has overlooked the fact that Nigeria recieves 400,000 computers a month! for free!
Yeah I guess its to bad that they can only get 25% of the computers up and running but hey thats still 100,000 computers a month that do work
Come on folks.
First, it is the NY Times. Second, nothing in this photo is recognizable as even a computer part, let alone something we could 'prove' is 'old and worthless'. Heck, the real old/worthless stuff had gold alloys in it. Third, Linux runs on just about anything with more computing power than a toaster. The software is free and reliable. Fourth, there are laws that prevent sending the latest/greatest tech out of the country, no matter how noble your motives. We have to try to keep it out of the hands of the nut cases out there (not possible, but worth trying). Finally, the person deciding this stuff is 'junk' is probably some reporter who does not know anything about 'hi-tech'. Or they are just ticked-off by being sent to cover Africa instead of Hollywood.
Shipping to Africa is not cheap and most charaties are testing the stuff here both to give more accurate tax values (Charaties can get in big trouble for giving tax credit for more than something is worth) and to ensure their donated dollars go to ship only usable equipment. Here locally, the big Charaties will not accept any computer that is more than 2 rgenerations old (now a Pentium II is the minimum). The PII is not going to run the latest games, but when it comes to writing term papers it will run far faster than most people can type.
I have yet to read weaker arguments on this blog than the ones presented here. "First it's the New York Times......." preceeded by the good ol' "they send us spam so they deserve it" argument. These are either posted by extremely uneducated adults or by kids having a little too much fun behind the keyboard. The fact of the matter is that we, as a country, have been abusing and using other countries as testing grounds and dumping grounds for years, be it for toxic waste or landmines left behind.
"Linux runs on just about anything with more computing power than a toaster."
Is this the best you can do? Seriously, do you think people that are so poor they have to worry about how and when they're going to get their next meal are going to KNOW linux, let alone any other programming language?
I love to watch people take sides. Actually, I don't. Is there a problem? Probably.
I don't think there is much understanding or compassion on the "right" side. Yes, actually, our waste products are incidentally killing people, and some people who are poor would benefit from the ability to participate in hacking, in trying new things. They're smart people who can understand and explore things.
Yet the "left" tends to whine and exaggerate, when in reality the people with wealth could get along just fine by ignoring everyone else.
Imagine the earth as a moonscape, with a few self contained hyper SUVs roaming over it in utter comfort. That's ultimate success.
I do think capitalism has the solution to these problems, but it takes enlightened leadership to show the way. Somewhere in the 90s care for the environment (hyper efficiency) and understanding might have taken off the springboard of the exuberance of the net era, but the thread was lost.
this is just awful... makes me sad that we suck so badly. :(
"Is this the best you can do? Seriously, do you think people that are so poor they have to worry about how and when they're going to get their next meal are going to KNOW linux, let alone any other programming language?"
Although I agree somewhat with this statement, a couple things.
1.) Linux isn't a programming language.
2.) GUI versions of Linux can run just as easily on incredibly old/slow machines.
Also, another comment that might put some of this in perspective. This past summer I worked with a service project that provided computers to needy people. Considering how many people there are even in America who are satisfied with personal computers that have the processing power of a cellphone, I think we can safely assume that people in Africa are not going to turn their noses up at technology that is still in widespread usage even in America.
I am not calling Africans a lower class than Americans, I am simply saying that if there is a want/need for these old machines even in America, I am sure they are put to good use in Africa.
Lord knows I put a ton of old P1's on pallets and shipped them to Nicaragua.
So many guesses about the group behind this article but nobody seeks out their site?
http://www.ban.org/
...and it's parent group:
http://www.eartheconomics.org/default.htm
So, is this real or just one photo on the NY Times site? I think this is real and another really scary indicator of bad things to come for my kids' generation:
http://www.ban.org/main/photogallery.html
If about 400,000 computers are dumped each month into one specific country. How many is that in total all over the world?
Here comes a hypothesis:
If these computers would still be able to operate, wich indicates that Nigeria has some sort of powerline structure equal to the USoA or Europe... And these computers would run on the same time, I think you would have a outage of whole Africa.
My point is, dumping computers is one thing, but being sure they are to some good is another. Maybe a low percentage is still working, but the mayority is junk and spoiling the African soil for a long time.
These countries do not (I repeat do NOT) have the same quantities for infrastructure,education,expertise and not to forget "market" to cope with such amounts of dumped overconsumed waste of technologie of whatever they dump.
You believe Coca-Cola bottles are recycled on American soil? Think again, they're shipped back to China to be molten to other plastics again. Some are just being 'washed' and refilled and put with some other labels than the originals.
- Unomi -
Not trying to get in to the middle of an argument about the validity of the NY Times, or the photo, or whether or not the picture is legitimate.....
I work for a non-profit computer recycler that charges for the recycling service. In response to the concern about why you should pay to recycle, I simply say that you pay anyone to take away your trash. However, when you pay a responsible recycler, you are also paying for the process of testing that computer, repairing it, and putting it back in to the reuse market.
Responsible recyclers work with downstream vendors to assure that any scrap we sell does not end up in a landfill, whether that landfill is here in the states or overseas.
When choosing what to do with your old electronics, ask questions. It's your right to know what happens with your e-waste.
I'd be happy to answer any questions you may have, but check out our website at www.comprenew.com.
L Shooks
Maybe they just don't know how to fix these old PCs???
And the robot with missing limbs and mutilated body raises his right and only arm and cries out, "I love you faa---th----" then shuts down to rest for eternity in the digital wasteland.
*Insert Sad song here*
Norway has a pretty decent model for recycleing electronics, there is a small environmental fee included in the price when you buy new stuff, something like a buck fifty. When your Ipod dies on you you can deliver it for free to any store that sells electronics. It's cheap, the fee is mandatory, and it works. I have no idea where the stuff ends up though, they probably just ship it to Nigeria :)