The global impact of e-waste
Subtitle: addressing the challenge
By: Karin Lundgren ; SafeWork and SECTOR, International Labour Organization
Contributors: InFocus Programme on Safety and Health at Work and the Environment; International Labour Organization. Sectoral Activities Department; International Labour Organization
Publisher: International Labour Organization
Published: 2012
Place of publication: Geneva
Language: eng
Number of pages: 71
ISBN-13: 9789221268970
Subjects: Electronic waste; Electronic apparatus and appliances; Environmental aspects
Description: "Electrical and electronic waste (e-waste) is currently the largest growing waste stream. It is hazardous, complex and expensive to treat in an environmentally sound manner, and there is a general lack of legislation or enforcement surrounding it. Today, most e-waste is being discarded in the general waste stream. Of the e-waste in developed countries that is sent for recycling, 80 per cent ends up being shipped (often illegally) to developing countries to be recycled by hundreds of thousands of informal workers. Such globalization of e-waste has adverse environmental and health implications. This paper explores the volumes, sources and flows of e-waste, the risks it poses to e-waste workers and the environment, occupational safety and health issues, labour issues and regulatory frameworks, and links this growing global problem with the International Labour Organization's current and future."
Table of contents: title: Introduction; title: The flow of e-waste; title: Risks to human health and the environment; title: Chemicals of primary concern in e-waste; title: Labour and employment issues; title: International, regional and national regulatory frameworks; title: Possible solutions to the complex e-waste problem; title: Scope and suggestions for ILO intervention; title: Conclusion.