How disposable tech is feeding an e-waste crisis

Sun, 18 Dec 2022 04:25:40 +1100

Andrew Pam <xanni [at] glasswings.com.au>

Andrew Pam
<https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/story/how-disposable-tech-feeding-e-waste-crisis>

"As humanity’s desire for new technology grows, so do the mountains of
potentially toxic electronic waste.

Some 54 million metric tonnes of phones, computers and other so-called e-waste
are produced a year, according to data from the United Nations Environment
Programme (UNEP) and partners.

That is equivalent to 7 kilogrammes for every person on Earth; a number
predicted to double by 2050 if nothing is done. Only 17 per cent of e-waste is
recycled. The rest is dumped, often to be sifted through in low-income
countries by informal workers, including children, seeking to extract valuable
materials at grave risk to their health.

To shed light on this issue, UNEP has partnered with Kenyan spoken word poet
Beatrice Kariuki on a compelling new short video series, which explores the
planetary risks posed by poor waste management. The first video tackles e-waste
and Beatrice asks: “How much more can our planet take of machines that are made
to break?”"

Cheers,
       *** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net               Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/                 Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/            Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/               Manager, Serious Cybernetics

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