incommunicado

Published in toxicslink.org (as pdf)

'Are you as the customer ready to foot the extra bill? Why should the manufacturing sector alone be made the scapegoat for all the evils that emanate from e-waste? If computers and all other electronic items are so bad, why don’t you stop using the same altogether?' asks Vinnie Mehta, executive director, Manufacturers Association for Information and Technology.

Think philanthropy and info-tech, but also think of a cleaner world

Indian Express - Bill Gates has joined the illustrious list of American businessmen philanthropists, from Rockefeller to Ford. With over 200 million USD to be given for the health sector alone and an expected over 1 billion USD investments in India, the scale behooves the richest man in the world. However, what is it that distinguishes the business of today from that of 50 years ago? Fundamentally, it is the recognition that business and, in fact, all activities of human development needs to be ‘sustainable’.

Newsweek - 12 December 2005 – This holiday season, American consumers will buy millions of videogame consoles, MP3 players, digital cameras and computers. The booming business is great for retailers, the high-tech industry and the U.S. economy—and potentially disastrous for the environment. Most consumers will eventually send their old, obsolete gear to landfills, where decaying circuit boards and PC screens could leak toxic substances like mercury, lead and chromium.

Basel Action Network - News - 5 December 2005 – China’s economy is on its way to becoming the world’s largest, and its hunger for the resources provided by electronic scrap will not diminish. That was a message offered by panelists at a session on the topic of U.S.-Chinese electronic scrap trade at the RECCON 2005 event, held in late November in Morgantown, W. Va.

"UN Concerned Over E-waste in Asia." Techtree News (29 Nov 2005).

Government officials from eight Asian countries met at Tianjin, China, from 19 to 22 November. The top-level meeting, dubbed "Asia-Pacific Regional Scoping Workshop on the Environmentally Sound Management of Electronic Wastes", qualifies as the first such inter-governmental meeting to be held on the problem of "e-wastes" in Asia.

Lodish, Emily. "An E-Cycling Nightmare." The Nation (15 Nov 2005).

In a dump outside the Alaba Market in Lagos, Nigeria, children scavenge for anything of value amid mounds of smoldering computer monitors and broken television sets. People here complain of fumes, but most remain unaware of the extreme health hazards caused by burning carcinogens and toxins in discarded electronic equipment.

INDIAN GOVERNMENT TO HELP LAUNCH PAN-AFRICAN KNOWLEDGE NETWORK PROJECT

[via Balancing Act]

In a move to connect 53 African countries, the government of India took the initiative of providing the African Union with Information technology (IT) facilities, the Embassy of India in Ethiopia announced. This initiative was first announced during Indian President's address to the PAN-African Parliament in South Africa on 16th September, 2004, during which he expressed India's willingness to undertake the electronic and knowledge connectivity mission for connecting the 53 African countries. From Oct. 25-29, a 6-member AU delegation led by Dr. Bernard Zoba, Commissioner of the African Union visited India following which a Memorandum of Association was signed between India and the AU. "At the imitative of the President of India" said a press release issued from the Prime Minister's office October 26, 2005, New Delhi, "the government of India is taking up a project to bridge the digital tele-education and tele-medicine, across 53 member countries of the African Union."

Flynn, Laurie J. "Poor Nations Are Littered With Old PC's, Report Says." NYT (24 Oct 2005).

Much of the used computer equipment sent from the United States to developing countries for use in homes, schools and businesses is often neither usable nor repairable, creating enormous environmental problems in some of the world's poorest places, according to a report to be issued today by an environmental organization.

Environmental News Network - October 19, 2005 - By National Recycling Coalition

The Telepraph - Calcutta, Oct. 9: Industry representatives have joined hands to create an infrastructure for recycling the growing dump of discarded electronic products in the country.