70% of toxic waste is from E-waste

Canada is shipping 116,000 tons of e-waste to other countries.

Where does all our garbage go? Why does the hard work of the less fortunate end up in the upper classes’ hands? Canada produces 31 million tonnes of garbage per year.

Canada produces the most waste per capita than any other country in the world. Prior to 2019, Canada had shipped about half of its recycling exports to China, which holds 45% of imported waste. Most of the plastic was burned. Not only is Canada exploiting their waste and shipping it to other countries, but America also does this process too. American recycling brokers will buy mass amounts of Canada’s waste and plastic, to then sell it to continents like Asia.

According to the Government of Canada, a news release from 2021 stated “The Government has a comprehensive plan to achieve zero plastic waste by 2030, including a proposed ban on certain harmful single-use plastics.” The Canadian government is planning with the provinces and territories trying to work on their plastic waste problem. The government knows this is a serious issue and they have ideas to cut back on their waste. Canada’s plan so far is to bring the shipping containers filled with trash to a waste-to-energy facility near Vancouver. The environment ministers also approved the “Canada-wide action plan” which is a plastic waste control plan which focuses on product design, single-use plastics, and more recycling depots.

According to Mia Rabson, who wrote an article on Canada’s waste for global news, “The Canadian trash was illegally shipped to the Southeast Asian nation in 2013 and 2014 — falsely labeled as plastics for recycling — and the two countries fought for years over whose job it was to get rid of it.” As Canada tries their new way to get rid of waste and plastic, they face heavy backlash from not dealing with the problem earlier. The only way Canada was caught doing this before it got even worse is because the president of the Philippines called out the ambassador of Ottawa, exposing what Canada was doing until the government finally took back some trash. That started a big movement from the people of Canada who were upset with their government.

A lot of the waste shipped to other countries was e-waste, electronic waste is the fastest-growing form of waste globally. Nowadays, we’re all surrounded by electronics such as phones, laptops, and headphones, but we don’t think of the impact all these mass-produced materials make. They are filled with very toxic substances like lead and mercury. These are harmful materials and substances, getting moved by millions of tons into other countries. Finn becket, a writer for Globus Warwick had this to say on the growing e-waste problem. “80% of e-waste produced in developed nations, who produce the most waste, is exported to developing nations”

As the world gets more populated and tech-based by the day, it’s up to everyone to help slow down this mass waste that is produced. This is not just Canada’s problem or Apples; it is all of ours and our job now is to fight to make our earth cleaner.