The Digital Dump: Exporting Re-Use and Abuse to Africa

The photo-documentary report entitled “ The Digital Dump: Exporting High-Tech Re-use and Abuse to Africa,” exposes the ugly underbelly of what is thought to be an escalating global trade in toxic, obsolete, discarded computers and other e-scrap collected in North America and Europe and sent to developing countries by waste brokers and so-called recyclers.

In Lagos, while there is a legitimate robust market and ability to repair and refurbish old electronic equipment including computers, monitors, TVs and cell phones, the local experts complain that of the estimated 500 40-foot containers shipped to Lagos each month, as much as 75% of the imports are “junk” and are not economically repairable or marketable. Consequently, this e-waste, which is legally a hazardous waste is being discarded and routinely burned in what the environmentalists call yet “another “cyber-age nightmare now landing on the shores of developing countries.”

What people are saying about "The Digital Dump":

"Most citizens, governments and businesses have blinders on concerning sham reuse and recycling of their e-waste. "The Digital Dump" rips those blinders away. Save your breath. Show the film. Then talk. You will have instant allies asking honest questions. That's how change happens." -- Sego Jackson, Principal Planner, Snohomish County, Washington

"Digital Dump pinpoints the horrific impact to human health and the environment in developing countries that results from illegal exports and exploitative practices purveyed by certain segments of the electronics recycling industry today. The right information can help us all make the responsible decision with our e-waste, and Digital Dump delivers just that." -- James W. Kao, President and CEO of GreenCitizen Inc.

What people are writing about "The Digital Dump":

• The Digital Divide Becomes a Digital Dump - AllAfrica.com - 8 Feb 2006
• E-Waste@Large - The New York Times - 27 Jan 2006
• Is America Exporting a Huge Environmental Problem? - ABC News - 6 Jan 2006
• One Man's Trash Doesn't Necessarily Become Another Man's Treasure - ABC News - 26 Dec 2005
• "Digital Dumps' Heap Hazards at Foreign Sites - The Washington Post - 12 Dec 2005
• Toxic "E-Waste" Gets Cached in Poor Nations - National Geographic News - 8 Nov 2005
• E-waste - The Baltimore Sun - November 2, 2005
• Poor Nations Are Littered With Old PC's, Report Says - The New York Times - October 24, 2005

• Press Release
• Executive Summary
• Summary of Findings
• Media version of report (quick download)
• Media version of report (print version)
• List of asset tags
  Where did this equipment come from? Asset tags are labels affixed to the electronic equipment, showing their origin and ownership. This list shows that this equipment was owned by private companies; city, state and federal governments (U.S. and worldwide); schools, hospitals.
• List of experts to contact in Nigeria
• Data Left on Hard Drives
  While many people assume that recylers will clean their hard drives of data before sending them to re-use facilities, many of the hard drives recovered from computers in Lagos contained a great deal of confidential information, including personal correspondence, resumes, business correspondence, disciplinary letters.
• Photos Link to photos of waste found in Lagos, Nigeria.
• Film Trailer Link to the trailer for "The Digital Dump"
• Film To order B-roll of the film, contact Yuka Takamiya at (206) 652-5555 or yuka@ban.org.