Greener Electronics

A Chinese child sits amongst a pile of wires and e-waste. Children can often be found dismantling e-waste containing many hazardous chemicals known to be potentially very damaging to children's health.

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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. But this problem can be avoided. We are pressing leading electronic companies to change; to turn back the toxic tide of e-waste.

Every year, hundreds of thousands of old computers and mobile phonesare dumped in landfills or burned in smelters. Thousands more areexported, often illegally, from the Europe, US, Japan and otherindustrialised countries, to Asia. There, workers at scrap yards, someof whom are children, are exposed to a cocktail of toxic chemicals andpoisons.

The rate at which these mountains of obsolete electronic products aregrowing will reach crisis proportions unless electronics corporationsthat profit from making and selling these devices face up to theirresponsibilities. It is possible to make clean, durable products thatcan be upgraded, recycled, or disposed of safely and don't end up ashazardous waste in someone's backyard.

Discover more about e-waste, what happens after it is thrown away, which companies are top and bottom of the toxic product class and the solutions to the problem.