Greenpeace has condemned the amount of pollution found
in some parts of China and India as a result of a burgeoning PC
recycling industry, which is commonly unregulated.
In a report just published – “Recycling of Electrical Wastes in
China & India: Workplace & Environmental Contamination” –
Greenpeace says workers in China and India employed to recycle
mostly western electronic devices are being exposed to potentially
hazardous toxic substances.
Greenpeace says this is due to careless manufacturing practices
among PC and other device manufacturers. The environmental
organisation says large quantities of toxic heavy metals can be
released into the workplace and the surrounding environment during
the recycling process.
The report says investigators found high levels of toxic metals
in environments around Guiyu Town in southern China and the suburbs
of New Delhi.
Greenpeace researchers collected more than 70 samples from
ground water, river sediment, soil and industrial waste to come to
their conclusions.
Greenpeace has called for the elimination of harmful substances
at the design stage, and for manufacturers to take responsibility
for the recycling of their own products at the end of their
lifecycle.
Companies including Dell have made recent announcements about
the reduction of lead contained in their PCs, but the controlled
recycling of electrical goods in the UK has been knocked back by
the government’s decision to delay a European directive on the
issue.
The Waste and Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE)
directive was supposed to become law this month, but it has now
been delayed until July 2006.
The IT industry, retailers and other industries said they faced
problems in complying with proposed new r