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Waste Management 28 (2008) 1472–1479 www.elsevier.com/locate/wasman Review Electronic waste (e-waste): Material flows and management practices in Nigeria
Innocent Chidi Nnorom a,*, Oladele Osibanjo b
a Department of Industrial Chemistry, Abia State University, Uturu, Abia State, Nigeria b Basel Convention Regional Coordinating Center for Africa for Training & Technology Transfer, Department of Chemistry, University of Ibadan, Nigeria
Accepted 29 June 2007 Available online 20 September 2007
Abstract
The growth in electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) production and consumption has been exponential in the last two decades. This has been as a result of the rapid changes in equipment features and capabilities, decrease in prices, and the growth in internet use. This creates a large volume of waste stream of obsolete electrical and electronic devices (e-waste) in developed countries. There is high level of trans-boundary movement of these devices as secondhand electronic equipment into developing countries in an attempt to bridge the ‘digital divide’. The past decade has witnessed a phenomenal advancement in information and communication technology (ICT) in Nigeria, most of which rely on imported secondhand devices. This paper attempts to review the material flow of secondhand/scrap elec- tronic devices into Nigeria, the current management practices for e-waste and the environmental and health implications of such low-end management practices. Establishment of formal recycling facilities, introduction of legislation dealing specifically with e-waste and the confirmation of the functionality of secondhand EEE prior to importation are some of the options available to the government in dealing with this difficult issue. Ó 2007 Published by Elsevier Ltd.
Contents
1. Introduction ...... 1473 2. E-waste: Composition and generation ...... 1473 2.1. Material composition of WEEE ...... 1473 2.2. Trends in e-waste generation ...... 1474 2.3. E-waste trade: Nigeria a case study...... 1475 3. E-waste management practices ...... 1475 3.1. E-waste management in developing countries...... 1475 3.2. Environmental and health implications ...... 1476 4. Material recovery from e-waste ...... 1476 4.1. Component reuse and recycling ...... 1476 4.2. Issues in e-waste management ...... 1477 4.2.1. Product take-back (Extended producer responsibility) ...... 1477 4.2.2. Product self-management ...... 1477 5. Recommendations ...... 1478 5.1. Recommendations to developing countries ...... 1478 5.2. Recommendations to developed countries ...... 1478
* Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: [email protected] (I.C. Nnorom), [email protected] (O. Osibanjo).
0956-053X/$ - see front matter Ó 2007 Published by Elsevier Ltd. doi:10.1016/j.wasman.2007.06.012 I.C. Nnorom, O. Osibanjo / Waste Management 28 (2008) 1472–1479 1473
5.3. Recommendations to the OEMs ...... 1478 6. Conclusion ...... 1478 References ...... 1478
1. Introduction growing most rapidly. PCs also contain the largest amount of printed wiring board (PWB) among electronic products. From past records, it seems certain that new problems The cathode ray tubes (CRTs) in computer monitors and of physical, biological and social change, not now widely televisions contain about 8% lead by weight (Li et al., anticipated, will arise sooner than later. This is because 2006); amounting to about 2–4 kg of lead each (Powel, our scientific knowledge of each of these systems is 2002). Computer CRTs present a disposal problem because incomplete, the mass of human population and its of their growing magnitude in the waste stream and their demands are increasing relentlessly and the possible role as a major source of Pb in MSW (Musson et al., human adjustments and adaptations, including technol- 2000; Lee et al., 2000). Consumer electronics account for ogy, are multiplying (White, 1996). Only a few years 27% of Pb discards in MSW in 1986 in the US and are pro- ago, some of the environmental issues of concern included jected to comprise 30% of lead discards by 2007. By 2000, the trio: acid rain, stratospheric ozone layer depletion and CRTs were projected to contribute 29.8% of all Pb in MSW global warming. Today, waste electrical and electronic or approximately 98.7% of all Pb from electronics (Musson equipment (WEEE) or electronic waste (e-waste) genera- et al., 2000). The composition of different kinds of CRT tion, trans-boundary movement and disposal are becom- glass is given in Table 1. ing issues of concern to solid waste management Lead is used for various reasons in the CRT manufac- professionals, environmentalists, international agencies ture, among which is providing shield necessary for x-rays and governments around the world (Musson et al., (Lee et al., 2000). The basic functions of Pb in CRTs are 2000; Cui and Forssberg, 2003). shown in Table 1. Apart from Pb used in CRTs, another The useful life of consumer electronic products is rela- main source of Pb in WEEE is the lead solder. The elec- tively short, and decreasing as a result of rapid changes tronics industry is currently facing significant international in equipment features and capabilities (Kang and Scho- legislation and market pressure to phase out the use of tin– enung, 2004). This creates a large waste stream of obsolete lead solder and switch to lead-free alternatives. Concerns electronic equipment. Due to their hazardous material con- over lead in electronics derivable from lead solder are tents, WEEE may cause environmental problems during now limited to older electronics. This is because most elec- the waste management phase if it is not properly pre-trea- ted. As a result, many countries have drafted legislation to improve the reuse, recycling and other forms of recovery of Table 1 such wastes in order to reduce disposal. Composition of different kinds of CRT glass Nigeria is currently undergoing a rapid advancement in Item Composition Basic function information and communication technology (ICT). A very Panel 0–4% lead oxide Optical quality glass; significant proportion of ICT users in Nigeria rely on sec- Alkaline/alkaline earth X-ray attenuation; ondhand equipment from developed countries, primarily Aluminosilicate Color and tint control from Europe and North America. In the present communi- Funnel 22–28% lead oxide high X-ray resistance; cation, we review the material flow of secondhand and Alkaline/alkaline earth Viscosity control scrap EEE into Nigeria, the current management practices Aluminosilicate for such wastes in the country and the environmental and Neck 30% lead oxide Thermal expansion match health implications of such low-end management practices. Alkaline/alkaline earth to funnel composition; Material recovery (component reuse and bulk recycling) as Aluminosilicate X-ray absorption an option in the sound end-of-life (EoL) management of Stem 29% lead oxide Expansion match to metal e-waste is also reviewed. Alkaline Wire feed through; X-ray aluminosilicate absorption
2. E-waste: Composition and generation Gun Potassium Crystallization mount aluminosilicate 2.1. Material composition of WEEE Sintering Frit 70–80% lead oxide Low temperature Personal computers (PCs) constitute the second largest Zinc borate component next to CRTs in the e-waste stream and are Source: Lee et al. (2000). 1474 I.C. Nnorom, O. Osibanjo / Waste Management 28 (2008) 1472–1479 tronic manufacturers are now using lead-free solder. How- Table 3 ever there are concerns that the lead-free solder(s) may also Waste personal computer generation in selected countries be of environmental and health concern sooner than later. Country Year Volume (units) Reference For example, the 96.35Sn/3.2Ag/0.7Cu alloy has been China – 4 million/year Greenpeace (2005) shown to potentially leach silver in concentrations greater Korea 2003 1.2 million Oh et al. (2003) than those deemed acceptable (Masanet, 2002). North America 1996 79 million Musson et al. (2000) Taiwan 1998 300,000 Lee et al. (2000) USA 1998 20 million Powel (2002) 2.2. Trends in e-waste generation
The growth of the PC industry started in the early 1980s and by 1989, an estimated 21 million PCs were sold world- The level of obsolete PC generation in some countries is wide; in 1998 this figure reached 93 million. This exponen- shown in Table 3. The production of PCs in Taiwan in tial increase in the sale of PCs can be partly attributed to 1998 accounted for 13% of global personal computer three factors: (1) the decrease in the PC price, (2) the emer- (PC) production. By 2000, it was estimated that about gence of the internet in the early 1990s, and (3) the rapid 300,000 scrap PCs are generated each year in Taiwan increase in the raw processing power of desktop computers (Lee et al., 2000). In China, the total sales of computer (Campbell and Hasan, 2003). In 2001, there were over 300 are more than 10 million sets every year. Meanwhile, a million internet users worldwide and this, was estimated to total of 5 million sets of computers and 40 million sets of increase to more than 500 million users by 2003 (Fichter, CRT monitors have had to be discarded so far in China 2003). (Ecoflash, 2003). E-waste is growing at a rapid and uncontrollable rate The questions of how much e-waste is generated, from and is the fastest growing portion of the municipal solid where and to where it is moving are difficult to answer. This waste stream. Currently WEEE constitutes 1% of munici- is worsened by the current system of gathering information pal waste in the US (Li et al., 2006) and 4% in the EU in which secondary and waste products are by large invis- (Yla-Mella et al., 2004). As these PCs become obsolete, ible to national statistics in production, sale and trade-in they are replaced and the old PCs are disposed. WEEE goods. Williams (2005) observed that few if any statistical generation in some countries is shown in Table 2.In categories are designed to distinguish new goods from used 1996, there were over 300 million existing CRTs (TVs or waste ones. Hong Kong and Australia were the first to and monitors) in North America. Meanwhile, in the same develop guidelines for distinguishing between used goods year, 42 million new CRTs were sold in the US, and 79 mil- and e-waste (Kojima, 2005). lion computers were retired (Musson et al., 2000). It is esti- In 2003, 160,000 metric tons of secondary and waste mated that for every three new computers purchased, two electronic equipment were exported from the UK; currently used units will become obsolete. This ratio was 133,000 tons of this was IT/telecom equipment. In this cat- expected to increase to 2:1 by 2005 (Musson et al., 2000). egory 110,000 tons were declared exports and properly documented while 23,000 tons were undeclared or grey- market exports going to non-OECD countries (Williams, 2005). According to estimates, between 50% and 80% of Table 2 e-waste collected for recycling in the US each year is being E-waste generation in selected countries exported, amounting to about 10.2 million PCs (Roman Country Year E-waste generated Reference and Puckett, 2002; BAN/SVTC, 2002; BAN, 2005). Esti- (Metric tons/year) mates show that South Korea exports about 1.8 million Germany 2005 1,100,000 Kumar et al. (2005), used computers to China each year, to avoid paying the Williams (2005)a UK 1998 915,000 steep recycling and disposal costs within its own borders USA 2000 2,158,490 Kumar et al. (2005), (Toxic Dispatch, 2004). Williams (2005)a It can be assumed that the disposal of obsolete elec- Taiwan 2003 14,036 Kumar et al. (2005), a tronic products is fundamentally driven by the production Williams (2005) of new ones. This implies that the growth in global elec- Thailand 2003 60,000 Kumar et al. (2005), Williams (2005)a tronic production of 4.4% in 2002, and 6.8% in 2003 will Denmark 1997 118,000 Kumar et al. (2005), result in similar growth in e-waste generation (Williams, Williams (2005)a 2005). Currently the main route of disposal of e-waste in Canada 2005 67,000 Kumar et al. (2005), a most developed countries is through export to developing Williams (2005) countries in the name of ‘bridging the digital divide’. Too Norway 1995 144,000 Lamvik et al. (2002) Switzerland – 110,000 Brandl et al. (2001) often, justifications of ‘building bridges over the digital Finland 2003 120,000 Yla-Mella et al. (2004) divide’ are used as excuses to obscure and ignore the fact France – 1,500,000 Li et al. (2004) that these bridges double as toxic waste pipelines to some Sweden – 100,000 Yla-Mella et al. (2004) of the poorest communities and countries in the world. a Source: http://www.ewaste.ch/facts_and_figures/statistical/quantities/. While supposedly closing the ‘digital divide’, the developed I.C. Nnorom, O. Osibanjo / Waste Management 28 (2008) 1472–1479 1475 countries are rather opening a ‘digital dump’ (BAN, 2005). ally no capacity for material recovery operations for elec- The export of e-waste to Africa and Asia appears to be a tronic waste, as a result of which these items become preferred option to the developed countries rather than discarded in local dumps. Assuming this trade continues to use the opportunity to enable their own national recy- unabated, with an annual increase of 10%, then an esti- cling infrastructure, switch to cleaner technologies and mated 40 million units of PCs or monitors (or 468,000 met- develop innovative design to prevent further toxics use ric tons of e-scrap) would have been imported over the (Roman and Puckett, 2002). Developing countries are period 2005–2010. This will amount to an importation of increasingly victimized by a disproportionate burden of about 40,000 metric tons of Pb for the period under consid- the world’s toxic cyber waste. The export of cyber waste eration or 77,000 tons of e-scrap/year. From tags on the to developing countries like Nigeria may be fueling the imported appliances and the information on the computer export of cyber crime to the developed countries, as per- hard drives, the BAN study estimated that about 45% of sons involved in cyber crime may obtain information about the imports are from the EU, 45% from the US, and the their victims from the hard drives exported with the e- remaining 10% from other locations such as Japan, Bel- waste. gium, Finland, Israel, Germany, Italy, Korea, Netherlands, Norway, and Singapore (BAN, 2005). 2.3. E-waste trade: Nigeria a case study Trading of secondhand electronics is currently booming at the famous ‘computer village’ in Lagos, Nigeria owing to In Nigeria, secondhand computers find application in this large-scale importation of secondhand electronics. business centers, printing houses; computer institutes/train- Brokers and traders from countries in the West African ing schools, cyber cafes and home use. Growth in internet sub-region come to Lagos to buy secondhand computer use in Nigeria is shown in Table 4. The recent Basel Action and accessories and other electronic devices. As a result, Network (BAN) coordinated study in Nigeria -Exporting a substantial quantity of these imports may be diverted Reuse and Abuse to Africa- revealed the level of trans- to other African countries, especially countries in the ECO- boundary movement of secondhand and scrap EEE into WAS sub-region. Nigeria. The study observed that an average of 500 containers enter Nigeria through the Lagos ports monthly 3. E-waste management practices with each containing about 800 monitors or CPUs. This indicates that an average of 400,000 secondhand or scrap 3.1. E-waste management in developing countries PCs (CPUs) or monitors enter the country monthly through the Lagos ports. This amounts to an annual Most developing countries including Nigeria have nei- importation of an estimated 5 million PC units, with a ther a well-established system for separation, storage, col- weight estimated at 60,000 metric tons (considering an lection, transportation, and disposal of waste nor the average weight of 8–14 kg for a PC (Li et al., 2006) and effective enforcement of regulations relating to hazardous 12 kg for a monitor (Lee et al., 2000)). Secondhand com- waste management (Mundada et al., 2004).They do not puter wares are also imported through other sea and air have legislation dealing specifically with e-waste and there ports, and also through donations by charities to organiza- is lax enforcement of existing laws dealing with general tions and educational institutions. Data is however scarce waste management. Formal recycling of e-waste using effi- on the local generation of e-waste and on the in-flow of cient technologies and state-of-the-art recycling facilities new computers and other EEE from the original equipment are rare. As a result electronic wastes are managed through manufacturers (OEMs). various low-end management alternatives such as disposal The BAN study observed that about 25–75% of the in open dumps, backyard recycling and disposal into imported secondhand computer wares are unusable junk surface water bodies (Furter, 2004). Similarly, there is no that are non-functional or unrepairable (BAN, 2005). This integrated framework regarding the monitoring and amounts to an importation of 15,000–45,000 tons of scrap management of toxic and hazardous materials and wastes recyclable electronic components, which may contain as in these countries. Limited funding has also caused signif- much as 1000–3,600 tons of lead. In Nigeria, there is virtu- icant impediments to the effective management of toxic wastes. Apart from scarcity of financial resources, the development of appropriate home-grown technology fol- Table 4 Growth in internet use in Nigeria lowing the principles of waste minimization and sustain- able development has been slow. Year Internet Internet penetration Growth in users internet users (%) (%) Crude recycling for e-waste is currently taking place in China, India, and in some other countries in the Asia-Paci- 2000 107,194 0.1 – 2001 152,350 0.1 43.06 fic axis. These crude ‘backyard’ recycling processes include 2002 420,000 0.3 173.88 open burning of plastics (to reduce waste volume) and cop- 2003 1,613,258 1.3 284.11 per wires (to salvage valuable metals, e.g. copper), and 2004 1,769,661 1.5 9.69 strong acid leaching of PWB (to recover precious metals) Data adapted from BAN (2005). etc. These operations are usually carried out with no or 1476 I.C. Nnorom, O. Osibanjo / Waste Management 28 (2008) 1472–1479 very little personal protection equipment or pollution con- countries means that these recyclables end up as the worst trol measures. In open burning of materials, fly ash partic- global examples of waste mismanagement. The BAN study ulates laden with heavy metals and other toxic materials in Nigeria observed that ‘‘even if Africa possessed state-of- are usually emitted. This results in inhalation of these toxic the-art waste management systems, such disproportionate materials and also in the contamination of food, soil and burdening of these peoples and environments in Africa surface water after deposition. These crude material recov- with toxic wastes would be an environmental injustice’’. ery processes have resulted in environmental pollution while exposing millions of people to toxins. These crude 4. Material recovery from e-waste recycling processes are yet to catch up in Nigeria. New management options are needed to divert EoL The consequences of the current disposal practices of e- electronics from disposal with municipal waste in Nigeria waste in Nigeria include: (1) toxic materials enter the waste and other developing countries. There are several factors stream with no special precaution to avoid the known and to consider in the development of a successful diversion documented adverse effects on the human health and the strategy. This strategy must be based on its economics, sus- environment; (2) resources are wasted when economically tainability, eco-efficiency, technical feasibility, and a realis- valuable materials are dumped instead of recycled, and tic level of social support for the program. This strategy additional new resources are required to continue the man- includes reuse, recycling and material recovery of EoL elec- ufacturing process; and (3) scarce land resources are being tronic products. Collection methodology, sorting, recovery used in landfills to accommodate discarded waste. How- technologies, material recycling processes and disposal ever, by reclaiming some of these materials and disposing methods are key factors in the comprehensive recycling of the recycling waste appropriately, the ultimate effect of e-waste (Kang and Schoenung, 2004). on the environment may be mitigated.
3.2. Environmental and health implications 4.1. Component reuse and recycling
Adverse health effects on people from contact with haz- WEEE can be recovered through disassembly, compo- ardous wastes may involve any organ system, depending on nent reuse, bulk recycling, and energy recovery (especially the specific chemical(s) contacted, the extent of exposure, from waste plastics). The recovery of WEEE for reuse or the characteristics of the exposed individual (age, sex, body recycling conserves resources and feedstocks that supply weight, genetic makeup, immunological status), the metab- steel, glass, plastics and precious metals. Such recycling olism of the chemical(s) involved, weather conditions, and also avoids air and water pollution, as well as greenhouse the presence or absence of confounding variables such as gas emissions associated with material production and other diseases (Asente-Duah et al., 1992). manufacturing. Hula et al. (2003) observed that product A typical example of the hazards of crude recycling of e- structure, materials, location of recycling facilities, applica- waste is the Guiyu town in China. This town attracted ble regulations, geography, and cultural context have a international attention after a documentary report on e- major impact on the economics and environmental benefits waste trading and processing in Asia by Basel Action Net- of material recovery. Resource conservation over the life work and Greenpeace in 2002. The majority of e-waste cycle of products is a key component of sustainability. recycling in this town is processed in backyards or small Recycling of WEEE is an important subject not only from workshops using crude methods such as manual disassem- the recovery aspect of valuable materials; there are also sig- bly and open burning. Environmental contamination nificant energy savings (Table 5) when recycled materials resulting from these crude recycling activities in the Guiyu are used in place of virgin materials. The application of town have been extensively studied and documented mechanical processes, such as screening, shape separation, (BAN/SVTC, 2002; Greenpeace, 2005; Roman and Puck- magnetic separation, and jigging to e-waste processing ett, 2002; Leung et al., 2004; Wong et al., 2007). have been reviewed (Cui and Forssberg, 2003). The highly acidic pH of as low as 3.4 observed in some water bodies of the industrialized areas of Lagos (Sridhar and Bammeke, 1986) may accelerate the dissolution and mobility of heavy metals from disposed waste items and Table 5 Recycled material energy savings over virgin materials from ash and cinder resulting from the open burning pro- cess, toward water bodies used for domestic purposes. Material Energy savings (%) Basel Action Network noted that exporting e-waste to Aluminum 95 developing countries exposes these countries to hazardous Copper 85 Iron and steel 74 waste and toxics, forcing them to choose between ‘‘poverty Lead 65 and poison’’ (BAN, 2005). This is more so because these Zinc 60 countries are not using the appropriate technology for Paper 64 waste management (Yanez et al., 2002). The lack of any Plastic >80 kind of e-waste recycling in Nigeria and other developing Source: Cui and Forssberg (2003). I.C. Nnorom, O. Osibanjo / Waste Management 28 (2008) 1472–1479 1477
Table 6 Material composition of computer printed wiring board (PWB) Component group Composition by weight (%) Metals (30%) Cu Fe Ni Sn Pb Al Zn 10.9 7.7 2.5 3.9 1.5 1.7 1.1 Precious metalsb Au Ag Pd 0.00498 0.00818 0.002 Metal oxide (40%) Silica Oxidesa Alumina Other oxides 15 6 6 13 Plastics (30%) CHO Polymersc Halogenated polymersd Nitrogen containing polymerse <25 <5 <1 Source: Oh et al. (2003). a Alkaline and alkaline earth oxides. b Metals + precious metals = 30%. c Polymers including polyesters, phenol–formaldehyde etc. d Polymers mainly PVC, traces of PTFE, and polybromo compounds etc. e Polymers including nylon and polyurethane.
Data is scarce on the recycling of e-scrap in Africa, products that minimize environmental impacts, including except in South Africa where there is an increase in mate- by using environmentally safer materials and by designing rial recovery activity for electronic scrap. Presently there products that can be more efficiently recycled or reused. is mechanical processing of obsolete computers, photocopi- The EU, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and several states ers, telephones, printers, faxes, telex machines, calculators, in the United States have introduced legislation making cell phones and other post-consumer goods in the country producers responsible for their EoL products. EPR was (Furter, 2004). Recyclers in South Africa process more developed with support for the polluter pay principle and than 4000 tons of electronic waste each year (Finlay, 2005). the recognition of the need to improve the management The gold content of a desktop computer is about and recycling of waste as agreed at the Rio Earth Summit 0.0016% and yet 1 metric ton of electronic scrap of PC con- in 1992. EPR requires that the people who use the most tains more gold than that of 17 tons of gold ore (Li et al., electronic equipment pay for their share of recycling in 2004). This implies that e-waste can be regarded as a high- the form of higher prices, assuming that producers and grade ‘ore’. In 1998, the amount of gold recovered from e- manufacturers add the cost of transporting and recycling waste in the United States was equivalent to that from and disposing of their products into the cost of the product more than 2 million metric tons of gold ore (Li et al., at sale. 2004). There has been much research to date on the possi- Based on the concept of EPR, the European Union bility and practicability of recovering valuable metals in issued the Waste Electrical and Electronics (WEEE) and electronic scrap and in particular, from printed wiring the Restriction on the Use of Certain Hazardous Sub- board (PWBs) of electronic scrap (Table 6). The volume stances (RoHS) Directives. The WEEE Directive aims to of PWBs is growing worldwide, from 90,000 tons in 2003 implement a take-back system of WEEE for the improve- up to 156,000 tons in 2009 (Tange and Drohmann, 2005). ment of the environmental performance of all operators In general, PWB scraps contain approximately 40% metals, in the life cycle of EEE. RoHS aims to restrict the use of 30% plastics and 30% ceramics (Cui and Forssberg, 2003). some hazardous substances (Pb, Hg, and Cd, hexavalent One possible advantage of recycling the e-scrap is the pos- chromium, polybrominated biphenyls (PBB) and polybro- sibility of using the plastic as fuel in energy recovery. The minated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs)) in electrical and elec- energy recovery not only contributes to reduced fossil fuel tronic equipment beginning in August 2006 (Walls, 2003). consumption by the society, but provides an ecologically sound way to manage a significant portion of the plastics 4.2.2. Product self-management from EoL EEE (Fisher et al., 2005). The concept of product self-management has been con- ceived (Thomas, 2003). This concept shifts responsibility 4.2. Issues in e-waste management for product management to the product itself and is a com- bination of information technology and product design 4.2.1. Product take-back (Extended producer responsibility) that would allow products to more or less automatically Most developed countries have adopted a series of mea- manage their EoL. This is expected to make product EoL sures in the management of e-scrap in order to protect the management more efficient and less expensive and would environment and human health and to achieve sustainable require that manufacturers include basic product informa- development. There are many approaches to dealing with tion on the product, both as a written label and as a bar e-waste; one concept has been extended producer responsi- code (Saar and Thomas, 2003). This information will be bility, EPR. This model provides incentives for redesigning relevant to the recyclers and dismantlers of products, and 1478 I.C. Nnorom, O. Osibanjo / Waste Management 28 (2008) 1472–1479 on the location of dangerous substances. It will also pro- 6. Conclusion vide relevant information for maintenance, reuse, upgrade and refurbishment of obsolete electronic devices (Saar Substantial amounts of electrical and electronic equip- et al., 2004). In this concept, tags on the electronic equip- ment exported to developing countries are in fact illegal ment will link to websites, showing how to dismantle the under the basel convention. However it appears that the product. The tags could be the universal product code governments are looking the other way and are failing in (UPC) bar code or radiofrequency identification (RFID) dramatic fashion to properly enforce and implement the tags. A potential recycling application is dismantling of Convention for post-consumer electronic waste by failing computers and other electronic products. to require adequate testing and labeling to certify function- ality and quality of the equipment and ensure that it does 5. Recommendations not equate to trade-in hazardous waste (BAN, 2005). There is therefore an urgent need for the introduction of legislation 5.1. Recommendations to developing countries dealing specifically with e-waste in developing countries. The introduction of product reuse strategies such as (1) Ensure an effective system for monitoring of ship- remanufacturing and formal recycling will be necessary in ments, appropriate labeling and certification of the func- checking the present low-end management practices that tionality of secondhand appliances. (2) Impose restriction are causing environmental havoc. E-waste has assumed a on the importation of secondhand appliances. Developing global dimension; a global solution is also required. countries can follow the path of Thailand who, worried that the Thai market may be flooded with e-waste, placed References restrictions on the importation of used electronic goods, PCs, and other items in October 2003. Thus used copiers Asente-Duah, D.K., Saccomanno, F.F., Shortreed, J.H., 1992. 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