High-tech trash is becoming a growing problem in Canada as a rapidly growing number of old computers and cellphones are being thrown away.

Much of the trash is being sent to the developing world.

John Arseneau
John Arseneau

"This is just the tip of the iceberg," says Trent Wolodko, a computer recycler in Calgary. "It's going to get much worse." Wolodko and his workers can't keep up with the trash.

Environmentalists say it is piling up in places such as China. Jim Puckett of the Basel Action Network in Seattle went there to videotape the evidence.

"What we found was a cyber-age nightmare," says Puckett. "We found villages of women and children (who) all day long, sorted wires by day and burned them at night."




In southeastern China, up to 100,000 thousand people toil to recover valuable materials — such as gold and copper — from computers. That leaves large ditches filled with debris and floating garbage in rivers.

"We found lead levels in the river there to be 300 times the World Health Organization standards," says Puckett. High-tech junkyards have also been found in Korea, India and Pakistan.

Toxicologists say those people are at risk.

"If these people stay in that environment, the incidence of cancer will be very high among those people," predicts Chris Van Netten, a toxicologist at the University of British Columbia.

Some of that rubble comes from Canada. Canada has signed the Basel Convention, which is supposed to keep rich countries from dumping hazardous waste into poorer countries. However, the federal government doesn't consider computers a hazardous product.

"As a whole product, it is not considered hazardous waste," says John Arsenau of Environment Canada. Arsenau says the government is reviewing its definitions.

Environmentalists such as Puckett say governments have a role in getting manufacturers to make greener computers.

In Europe, a certain percentage of parts in appliances, cellphones and computers must be recyclable.

For example, manufacturers will be responsible for recovering up to 80 per cent of the materials used in their cellphones. Member states will be setting up recycling sites and consumers will have to pay more for their mobile phones.

In Japan, Fujitsu, NEC and Dai Nippon are redesigning their telecommunication products to meet Japanese laws. Legislation now requires at least three-quarters of equipment components be recyclable or reusable.

In Canada, only a handful of municipalities have computer recycling programs. Some charitable organizations and schools accept old computers to refurbish.

Canadians buy an average of two million computers every year and replace them every two to five years.