E-waste Dumping - A Challenging Legal and Ethical Choice in Global Essay

E-waste Dumping - A Challenging Legal and Ethical Choice in Global Business - Essay Example This fast growing waste stream is accelerating because the global market for PCs is far from saturation and the average lifespan of a PC is decreasing rapidly - for instance for CPUs from 4-6 years in 1997 to 2 years in 2005 (Culver, 2005). PCs comprise only a fraction of all e-waste. It is estimated that in 2006 approximately 180 million mobile phones will be retired. Similar quantities of electronic waste are expected for all kinds of portable electronic devices such as PDAs, MP3 players, computer games and peripherals (O'Connell, 2002). A lot of this waste (approximately two thirds) ends up in Asian countries, mainly China and India. There this waste is dismantled by bare hands, by low paid workers. This is a very serious environmental and health hazard for those nations. This paper shall consider the ethical and legal aspect of e-waste dumping in different countries, mainly China. Unfortunately, largely for economic reasons, the developed world has used primarily one method of dealing with this crisis-exporting their e-waste to less developed countries that are unable or unwilling to protect their citizens from the resulting harm to the ecology or public health. The minute quantities of reusable minerals contained within these electronic products have value only in places with paltry wages and where health codes for their extraction are nonexistent or not enforced. As a result, studies estimate that 50% to 80% of all e-waste amassed for "recycling" are shipped abroad to countries such as China, India, and Pakistan. Researchers found that approximately 13 million computer systems were channeled to recyclers in the United States during 2002, suggesting that up to 10 million of these units moved offshore to parts of Asia. In response to the growing concern over how China will manage its increasing piles of waste electrical and electronic equipment (e-waste), central government departments have drafted a number of interrelated legislations. A national pilot program has also been initiated by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) to determine the most suitable model for a Chinese e-waste management system. Growing interest in the e-waste recycling business from the private sector is another indicator of the significant changes in store for China's largely unregulated and environmentally unsound e-waste processing industry. The rationale behind these legislative and market developments is clear, driven by factors such as the environmental and health impacts of e-waste recycling and disposal, and the incentive of complying with international environmental standards. Discussion America discards thousands of tons of e-waste annually. Most of this e-waste consists of computers and electronic items. Computers and electronic equipment contains toxins. The toxins in computers aren't harmful while the computer is intact. The problems start only after the computer is discarded and breaks apart, leeching its ingredients into the environment. In China, e-waste is becoming an important waste stream, both in terms of quantity and toxicity. E-waste refers to discarded appliances, such as televisions and refrigerators, as well as a variety of associated waste products, such as electrical wiring, printed wiring boards (PWBs),