India E-waste Clipreel

The world is consuming more and more electronic products every year. This has caused a dangerous explosion in electronic scrap (e-waste) containing toxic chemicals and heavy metals that cannot be disposed of or recycled safely. Every year, hundreds of thousands of old computers and mobile phones are dumped in landfills or burned in smelters. Thousands more are exported, often illegally, from Europe, US, Japan and other industrialized countries, to Asia. There, workers in scrap yards, some of whom are children, are exposed to a cocktail of toxic chemicals and poisons.

Greenpeace International is set to release a report of its scientific investigations into the hazardous chemicals found in the scrap yards where electronic waste is recycled in China and India. The results from analyzing the dust from workshops, as well as waste water, soil and sediment from local rivers show conclusively that all stages in processing the e-waste enable toxic chemicals, including heavy metals, to be released into the workplace and into the surrounding environment.