With the aim of facing the challenge posed by the growing volume of production of electrical and electronic equipment, at SETEM we collect various proposals aimed at the public administration, companies and manufacturers and consumers.
The increasing amount of electronic waste is mainly caused by higher consumption of ESA, short product life cycles, and few affordable repair options.
Products are of very little use. On the other hand, programmed obsolescence is a practice still widespread among manufacturers. There is no law prohibiting it, and products are designed to have a limited life, and to be difficult to repair or irreparable. Repair has not been promoted by manufacturers, distributors, or governments as the first choice for consumers. Very often brands replace faulty customer appliances with new ones within the warranty, and the repair services offered are limited within and outside the product warranty period. In addition, manufacturers sell their spare parts at high prices, which means that the repair does not compensate consumers financially.
Before becoming a waste, our devices have travelled a long way to reach our hands. On this route, serious events are currently taking place violations of human and environmental rights.
ESAs are mineral-intensive products and rare earths. The extraction of raw materials for ESA production has generated several socio-environmental conflicts over recent decades, especially in countries of the Global South: labour exploitation, lack of security, high exposure to toxins, child labour, unfair price, financing of armed groups, pollution, water and land grab, deforestation, among other damages. Women and children suffer from these impacts in an aggravated way, extractive projects being a factor that perpetuates inequality gender.
