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On this page we will prove that people who fall victim to working around eWaste without protection work in extremely dangerous and immoral conditions so that you see that you can understand the magnitude of the issue at hand.
The United Nations Declaration of Human Rights
The United Nations Declaration of Human Rights
Article 23
Article 23
(1) Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions of work
People working in the eWaste dumps working to dismantle the eWaste do not get paid very much for their work. As well as many do not get the chance to speak about the work conditions they are in. Yes they are working, but is working in hazardous and life threatening conditions ok? No. Furthermore, in many of the countries that eWaste is being dumped on, the local residents don’t have much of a say in their line of work. The only way for them to earn a wage at all is to spend their time in a dangerous environment.
Article 25
Article 25
(1) Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family
The disposal of eWaste in these countries is done in a manner that blatantly violates Article 25. At a visible level, many electronic components are burned in order to extract minuscule quantities of precious metals, and in the process give off toxic fumes that can cause serious harm to the respiratory system and cause cancer. Almost nobody subjected to this line of work wears proper protection. Furthermore, basic health rights are violated by not telling employees of the dangers of their work. Many people tasked with disassembling old monitors (containing lead and mercury) were not even aware of risks involved and why they should be wearing gloves and masks when interviewed by BAN.
Article 26
Article 26
(1) Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages
People who work and live in any location should know the dangers of the items they are working around and handling as well as some of the people working have to choose between learning and working and if they need to work to supply their family then they can not learn and will not know the dangers of the situation they're in. Children in these communities are forced to spend their time earning scraps to support their families rather than going to school and getting a proper education. This essentially creates an endless cycle of poverty which is impossible to escape: if children try to get an education to better their situation, they won’t be able to support their family in the interim and will fall further into poverty, but if they don’t get educated, they won’t be able to improve their situation.
Aristotle’s Politics III
While people agree about what things are equal, they do not agree about what people are equal.
We all know and agree that people working around hazardous materials is bad and that said people who are doing that work should have proper protective equipment. However, many of the people working in these conditions have their health and safety ignored by others, as we cite that "they're doing it at their own free will".
As a result of this, many of these people do not have a choice on wether or not to work in these conditions. They suffer while others sit back and enjoy the profits. While we may all be equal on a piece of paper, the existing scenarios and situations we are born into prevent total equality and justice.
Does that make consumers bad people for indirectly harming others? No. People in foreign countries have no choice but to work on eWaste, despite "free will". On a much smaller scale, we don't have much of a choice either in terms of technology usage and recycling. While we aren't pressured to work in a dead end field, most products are not designed to be recycled and we live in a society where technology is crucial to connecting with others and staying relevant.
Citations:
UN General Assembly, Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 10 December 1948, 217 A (III), available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6b3712c.html [accessed 7 May 2021]
Aristotle. Aristotle's Politics. Oxford :Clarendon Press, 1905.
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