Houses Contain Toxic and Hazardous Wastes

Imagine having a roomful of junk containing toxic and hazardous materials inside your house and you don’t know just how to get rid of them! I have to say this because as I was looking inside our storage room, or more appropriately, our “junk room” inside the house, I realize that the bulk of the junk comprise of electronic wastes, namely, outdated or non-serviceable desktop computer, a laptop, printers, TV sets, cabinet-type stereo players, an assortment of cellular phones and telephones, electric fans, air conditioning units, etc. Computer wastes alone are loaded with toxic, heavy metals and persistent chemicals which can cause adverse affects on the health and safety of the people and the environment. Some of them have been there for years and they continue to pile up with lack of appropriate disposal methods in our place.

You see, I came from a third-world country where environmental laws are either insufficient or not enforced. We also lack the necessary technology to deal with these wastes. There are very few recycling companies here but not one of them have the necessary equipment, process and technical know-how that conform to environmental and safety regulations. Not like in Canada and other developed countries where recycling of computers and other electronic equipment is a way of life. They have many capable recyclers, like the ERA, which even provide pick-up stations in Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton and pick-up services.

My people are largely uninformed about the dangers and environmental impacts of computer wastes. You can observe anywhere junkshops where discarded computer / electronic parts are not properly housed or contained, left to rot in the rain. And yet electronic goods production top my country’s business. It imports hundreds of thousands of electronic goods annually.

I am astonished at how far some countries like Canada have developed their computer waste management strategies. It is high time that we act to correct the problem which has grown to uncontrollable proportion. But where do we start?