Technology waste causes death in poor countries

Ivory Coast has seen at least 10 people die and more than 70,000 people have to be treated because toxins emanate from hi-tech waste buried around Abidjan region. The United Nations says rich countries are making less developed areas into their technology dumps.

" I hope relevant organizations understand the tragedy in Ivory Coast and see it as a wake-up call for the impact of technology waste ," said Achim Steiner, President of the United Nations Environment Program. .

According to research by the Basel Action Network, Nigerria's Lagos port alone has at least 100,000 old computers imported each month. " If they are of good quality, they have created a driving force, " Steiner said. " But as many as 1/4 - 3/4 are not usable. In essence, it is technology waste. When using the common method of incineration, toxic substances such as barium and mercury will do. pollution of soil and water sources ". Every year, there are about 50 million tons of this kind of garbage in the world.

In the past, technology waste often found its way to Asian countries in the form of salvaged components. But due to increasingly tight environmental regulations, waste now moves to Africa more.

Due to the price of computer components, phones, hi-tech equipment . increasingly cheap so users replace them very quickly. In rich countries, customers tend to switch to new technology as soon as they are born.