a world e-waste map !

In what the Toronto Star calls "the dirty underbelly' of electronics (Dec 15) it is revealed that a world e-waste map has been produced and the results are staggering. In Canada, for example the average person generated twenty-four kilograms of e-waste in 2012, 860,000 tonnes for the country or the equivalent of 1,700 fully loaded Boeing 747s. The biggest producer of e-waste was the US with twenty-nine tones per person or 9,359,000 tonnes nationally. These figures are expected to increase 33% by 2017. The map also delineates rich and poor countries. Haiti and Afghanistan, for example are the lowest e-waste producers with just 8,000 and 19,000 tones annually. This is another disaster waiting to happen that is typical of the current economic system. The mantra is to rush out every new device possible and grab all the sales you can without regard to what is going to happen at the end of the line. Just like manufacturers and the mining industry, when you have finished, just walk away and leave the problems to someone else! John Ayers.