A new report from the UN warns that the environmental dangers of e-waste is set to explode with the increasing use of PCs, mobile phones and consumer gadgetry worldwide. It says that unless countries  take action to collect and recycle e-waste, many developing countries will be left with (even bigger) mountains of hazardous toxic e-waste. The report predicts that e-waste from discarded mobile phones will be seven times higher in 2020 compared to 2007, and 18 times higher in India. Two to four times as many computers will be dumped in South Africa and China, and five times as many in India. China already produces 2.3 million tonnes of e-waste domestically and remains a major dumping ground for developed countries despite having banned e-waste imports. How to deal with this waste is a growing problem, and the report acknowledges that simply transferring existing recycling methods from more developed countries is unlikely to work.

Existing controls for e-waste recycling are already weak, as demonstrated by a Greenpeace investigation that followed a TV from the UK to Nigeria where it is dumped or the materials recycled using less than safe methods. With the poorest being involved in trying to extract materials such as lead, cadmium and mercury e-waste, Greenpeace say its up to the manufacturers of this equipment to stop using toxic chemicals in its manufacture.