Old PCs dumped in developing nations.

• Author: Swartz, Nikki
• Position: UP FRONT: News, Trends & Analysis

According to a recent report, "The Digital Dump: Exporting Reuse and Abuse to Africa," U.S. recycling businesses are donating or selling unusable computer equipment, phones, and televisions to poor nations to avoid the expense of recycling them properly. And most of the useless computers end up in landfills, creating enormous environmental problems in the world's poorest countries, the report says.

The report, compiled by the Basel Action Network (BAN) environmental group, focuses on Nigeria, but BAN says the situation is similar throughout much of the developing world.

"Too often, justifications of 'building bridges over the digital divide' are used as excuses to obscure and ignore the fact that these bridges double as toxic waste pipelines" states the report. As a result, Nigeria and other developing nations are carrying a disproportionate burden of the world's toxic waste from technology products, BAN...