Environmental activists disrupted the world’s largest mobile phone conference with a provocative piece of 3D pavement art highlighting the growing problem of electronic waste.

The artwork confronted thousands of tech leaders entering Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. The NGOs accused them of profiteering from short product life spans, planned obsolescence and a “designed to break” culture.

EEB waste policy officer Piotr Barczak said: “People love technology; the upgrades, the unboxing, the new features. But there’s a dirty side to our tech obsession: trainloads of e-waste trundling out of our cities and towards hellish waste dumps in Africa and Asia.”

Mobile World Congress claims green credentials and uses the slogan #Betterfuture. But organisers refused to host the pavement artwork or offer the NGOs a platform.

The 11 x 6 metre 3D artwork was created by Eduardo Relero for the European Environmental Bureau (EEB), the largest federation of green NGOs in Europe, and Spanish NGO Eco Union.

The e-waste problem

Since 2007, more than 7 billion smartphones have been produced, according to Greenpeace. US consumers use a phone for just over two years, on average. E-waste is the fastest growing waste stream, accounting for 70% of the toxic waste in US landfills. It is a growing risk to the environment and human health, according to the UN. Organised crime ships around 8 million tonnes of e-waste illegally from Europe to China each year.

In 2016, an estimated 44.7 million metric tonnes of e-waste were generated, an increase of 3.3 million metric tonnes, or 8 per cent, from 2014, the UN says. Only about 20 percent, or 8.9 million metric tonnes, of all e-waste was recycled in 2016. Experts foresee e-waste increasing a further 17 percent to 52.2 million metric tonnes by 2021, the UN says. E-waste is seen as a threat to UN sustainable development goals. Ref.

Greenpeace e-waste photo gallery (for media use)

Companies profiting from the status quo

Electronics firms have become highly profitable thanks in part to rapidly changing product lines. Products are designed ultra-thin and compact, bonded with strong glues and patented screws, all of which make repairs difficult. Independent repair shops face aggressive software and physical barriers, as well as legal threats. They are actively fighting ‘right to repair’ laws and using intellectual property and copyright laws to threaten citizens sharing repair videos or repair manuals, or trying to combat planned obsolescence. Official repairs operate like a cartel, according to some, refusing to sell parts to independent shops. Repair prices can be a similar cost to buying a replacement, so many choose the later.

Greenpeace’s latest consumer advice congratulates Apple on closed-loop recycling and detoxing its products, but criticised it over repair.

Piotr continued: “Consumers and environment are both victims of manufacturing that is ‘broken by design’, either directly or through lack of repair options. We are like hamsters on a commercial treadmill, paying a fortune for the latest gadgets because we cannot repair the old ones. Today we are hitting back at the firms attending Mobile World Congress and challenging them to clean up their act.”

The artwork installed outside the conference today:
 Images & video (copyright free)

The solutions

Firms need to go beyond pledges and achieve genuine closed-loop recycling. They should design for repair, with upgradeable parts to extend their useful life. They should support, not fight the repair movement and legal rights. They should make spare parts available and provide software support for older devices.

Products should contain fewer harmful substances, such as flame retardants. These should be substituted to protect public health and the environment, and facilitate recycling.

Governments should follow Sweden in giving tax breaks for repair shops. The EU should regulate more products under Ecodesign Directive and Energy Labelling Directive rules.

Ends

Covered in Motherboard – Vice – Le Monde

Resources
-The artwork will be visible at Arc de Triomf (exact location) from 1 – 5pm CET on 27 February and live streamed on Facebook.
-Photo (street art / rights-ready background images from Greenpeace)
-Video (explainer video / rights-ready b-roll from Greenpeace)
-Photo back-story: artist
-Photo back-story: e-waste in pictures

Contacts
Jack Hunter press officer European Environmental Bureau (EN) Jack.Hunter@EEB.org +44 739 612 4654
Ricard Abenza, press officer Eco-Union (EN, ES) ricard.abenza@ecounion.eu +34 666 931 867 or +34 935 535 840 /
Piotr Barczak, waste policy officer European Environmental Bureau (EN, PL) wasteresource@eeb.org +32 489 288 981
Alejandro González Domingo, director de proyectos Eco-Union (EN, ES) alejandro.gonzalez@ecounion.eu +34 6869 48243