“This new, almost invisible tsunami of e-waste is taking place, padding already lucrative profit margins.”
A two-year Basel Action Network investigation found at least 10 US firms shipping millions of tons of discarded electronics to Southeast Asian countries unprepared for the toxic waste. Global e-waste is growing five times faster than it’s being recycled. Phones and laptops contain both valuable metals and hazardous materials; the economics favor dumping the problem on poorer countries rather than proper recycling. This is the hidden cost of cheap electronics and short software support cycles.