International e-waste scandal in Africa on BBC

24 May 2010

STAFFORD: In a recent BBC3 programme, Blood, Sweat and Luxuries: Gold and E-Waste, screened in the UK on 11 May 2010, IT equipment from several high profile UK public sector organisations was alleged to have made its way to Ghana as e-waste in Africa, where children were seen scavenging for recoverable electronic components to sell for scrap value.

This alleged illegal transportation of IT waste from the UK has raised questions about how any organisation can ensure that its unneeded equipment is recycled, re-used or disposed of, in an acceptable and responsible fashion.

Andy Howell, group recycling manager at Stone, the UK's largest privately-owned computer hardware manufacturer and public sector specialists, comments, "European laws exist to prevent such UK IT waste ever reaching countries such as Ghana in this way. But, as this programme has highlighted, these laws may not be controlling the recycling market as well as they could be, with some recycling providers operating in the UK transporting waste illegally rather than recovering or disposing of it correctly."

Responsible recycling

Howell continues, "I am bitterly disappointed and upset to see that IT hardware from highly reputable organisations has somehow made its way to rubbish sites on another continent, such as those shown in Ghana. I am certain that those organisations who were highlighted, had entered into an agreement with their recycling providers in good faith, fully trusting that the old hardware would either be recycled or that any working units would be deployed to countries like Ghana, or other African countries in desperate need of actual working IT equipment."

Howell adds, "These UK public sector organisations and bodies have been let down badly by "cowboy suppliers" who have not taken adequate care to ensure that the systems being replaced will be responsibly recycled, and not left as e-waste in Africa. Not to mention the harm that such irresponsible behaviour is doing to the environment as a whole and specifically to the countries in which the waste is dumped."

"There are recycling companies out there for the UK public sector who will take responsibility for recovering appropriate IT hardware and re-deploying it through the proper channels. Any equipment that is not fit for recovery will be recycled in line with the present stringent legislation and put back into manufacturing processes where possible," explains Howell.

Authorised Treatment Facility developed

Following the full implementation of the WEEE (Waste Electronic and Electrical Equipment) Directive in 2007, Stone met the challenge head on and invested in excess of GBP500,000 to equip its own Authorised Treatment Facility, fully licensed by the Environment Agency.

Howell comments, "Whilst every other UK IT manufacturer engages third parties to discharge their producer obligations, Stone manages the entire lifecycle of the hardware it manufactures from 'cradle to grave', which in turn affords us control over the environmental impact of our products. In the past twelve months absolutely nothing has even gone to UK landfill."

Stone has collected over 500 tonnes of redundant IT from its UK public sector customers over the last 12 months and, in line with the recovery/re-use objective of the WEEE Directive, recovered 74%. The remaining 26% underwent a volume reduction and segregation process in-house, before the various output streams were returned to the remanufacturing industries. 0% went to landfill, and the majority of recovered (working) equipment is supplied by Stone to UK public sector customers.

Stone sponsors IT Schools Africa

Stone also recently became the premier sponsor of IT Schools Africa - www.itschoolsafrica.org, a branch of the Isbourne Foundation. IT Schools Africa supplies and supports IT donations to school projects throughout Malawi, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Tanzania. Its support provides for the supply of equipment and training the teachers, and ensures the kit is responsibly disposed of at the end of its secondary life, preventing e-waste in Africa.

Howell concludes, "Through our in-house recycling plant and partnership with IT Schools Africa, Stone is able to offer its UK public sector customers the assurance that redundant IT hardware will be recovered, re-used or recycled in line with the WEEE legislation and ethical standards, and that their equipment will never appear as e-waste in Africa in scenes such as those portrayed in the recent BBC3 programme."