Computer dumping error, shut down system urgently

By Mike Owour

It is a well-worn script. A do-gooder in the US or Europe says the stench of guilt would overpower him every time he passed by a dumpsite and saw discarded computers.

With his mind on poor people somewhere in Kenya who would make use of the machines, he felt so sufficiently philanthropic that he started collecting the old computers — refurbishing and sending them to Africa.

Others, with less charitable motives, sell refurbished computers at affordable prices to supposedly improve access to technology. That is as far as the good news goes. The bad news is that the life span of such electronic goods is inevitably short and they end up at a dumpsite.

Electronic waste

From useful gizmos, they become an environmental and public health hazard compounded by a non-existent recycling culture and infrastructure. Apparently, rich countries are only too willing to donate the problem to their poor counterparts.

Information PS Bitange Ndemo wants this e-dumping banned. Surely, access to affordable computers should not blind us from the costly danger of electronic waste.