15 E-Waste Documentaries That Will Change Your View on Technology

E-waste is a rising problem with serious consequences. Every electronic gadget we operate leaves some waste behind. Over time, it becomes a lumpy mess, negatively impacting our environment. The movement of this waste can be slowed down but cannot be stopped, making recycling and responsible consumption the only effective solutions to tackle the ever-growing e-waste.

However, recycling also faces many setbacks. According to the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), e-waste is “rising five times faster than documented e-waste recycling.” That is an additional challenge, and to counter it, we must backtrack and consider changing our approach to addressing the overall e-waste hassle.

Going Back to the Basics – Being Aware

You heard it! Being aware is the essential step in addressing e-waste. There are different ways to gain insights into a subject matter. The best of them is watching e-waste documentaries. They present crucial facts regarding anyone and anything, so why not do what is necessary? A research study also proves an increased 60% awareness of social factors among viewers.

Without further ado, here are the 15 ten crowd-pleasing documentaries on e-waste.

1. The E-waste Tragedy – Opening Sequence Documentary

By: GRUP MEDIAPRO

This documentary revolves around the alarming trouble of e-waste generated by developed countries. As much as 50 million tons of e-waste from computers, televisions, and mobile phones are produced annually. It is outrageous that 75% of the waste disappears from official recycling circuits, frequently ending up at illegal dumps in developing countries.

“The E-waste Tragedy” exposes the greed and corruption fueling the dangerous trade and emphasizes the urgency of better waste management and ethical recycling practices.

2. The World’s Junkyard for Electronic Scrap | Digital Dumping in Ghana

By: ENDEVR

This documentary explores the severe environmental and health impacts of e-waste in Ghana, West Africa. It unveils how discarded electronics from all over the world reach Ghana, where they are improperly disposed of or recycled under hazardous conditions.

“The World’s Junkyard for Electronic Scrap” highlights the dire outcomes for local communities, including pollution and health risks, while shedding light on the global e-waste crisis and the execution of fruitful waste management practices.

3. Electronic Recycling Waste | E-Waste Problem: Documentary

By: The Green Media “TGM”

This documentary elaborates on the big question of e-waste, specifically its disposal in a year, a staggering 20 to 50 million metric tons globally. It draws attention to the challenges and complexities associated with e-waste disposal and recycling, explaining the environmental footprint and the urgent need for sustainable actions.

“Electronic Recycling Waste” aims to raise awareness about the scale of the problem and encourages viewers to prioritize the implications of their electronic consumption habits.

4. How 6 Million Pounds Of Electronic Waste Gets Recycled A Month

By: Business Insider

This documentary takes a holistic look at the logistics and processes involved in recycling electronic waste on a large scale. It showcases the operations of Sims Lifecycle Services’ 200,000-square-foot recycling facility that manages vast amounts of e-waste, spotlighting the techniques used to safely and efficiently handle cast-off electronics.

“How 6 Million Pounds Of Electronic Waste Gets Recycled A Month” stresses the importance of stable recycling practices (reuse, repurpose, re-engineer), underscores the obstacles in ensuring these materials are processed sustainably, and illustrates the moneymaking potential. Through interviews and behind-the-scenes footage, the audience familiarizes itself with the critical role recycling plays in dealing with the e-waste emergency.

5. The tragic costs of e-waste

By: CBS

This documentary shows mountains and acres of land in Ghana, West Africa where the enormous bulk of e-waste gets scattered. It gives a reality check; we contemplate the place of origin or where products come from but not where they wind up after we discard them. The residents of Ghana have turned thrown-away electronics into a source of income by participating in various urban mining labors in hopes of finding and extracting something useful and selling it. Unfortunately, the labors have caused grave illnesses and continue to do so.

“The tragic costs of e-waste” blows the whistle and pushes industrially advanced nations to enforce viable recycling protocols and improve people’s lives in Ghana.

6. The dark side of electronic waste recycling

By: Verge Science

This documentary investigates the perilous and complex nature of managing e-waste. It highlights how, despite the potential for responsible recycling, many e-waste processors opt to ship this waste to poorer countries, where it ends up in junkyards. Though this practice is legal in some countries like the U.S., it poses significant environmental and health risks due to the toxic substances released during improper disposal.

“The dark side of electronic waste recycling” touches on the efforts of nonprofit guardians to hold unscrupulous exporters accountable, demonstrating the legal and moral battles involved in the e-waste industry.

7. Tech trash: Inside Nigeria’s silent e-waste menace

By: TheCable

This documentary reflects Nigeria’s technological development which has further led to the demand for electronic devices. With more than 133 million multidimensional people living in poverty, buying a brand-new device is highly unusual. As a result, they buy tokunbo/second-hand devices. This increased demand has helped the electronics market thrive, but not without a shaky disadvantage – the nation has turned into a “dumping ground”.

“Tech trash: Inside Nigeria’s silent e-waste menace” discusses the adverse effects of urban mining, exports, and government negligence.

8. A Week in a Toxic Waste Dump

By: Best Documentary

Once again, this documentary focuses on Ghana, West Africa. The key difference lies in its profound exploration, uncovering the stark realities of life and labor in Agbogbloshie, one of the planet’s most contaminated atmospheres and home to 80,000 people. From the findings of this documentary, we stumble upon a disheartening fact that many people there “die in their 20s”.

“A Week in a Toxic Waste Dump” sends a loud and clear message concerning the aftermath of our e-waste, urging viewers to consider the origins of electronic products, their final resting places, and the lives impacted.

9. Africa: Digital Graveyard

By: United Nations

Although mobile phones and computers are a manna from heaven, their disposal has found its way into landfills of poverty-stricken countries, particularly Ghana where children disintegrate the dumped e-waste to retrieve metals and buy food. As the third fastest-growing source of waste globally, e-waste is produced in massive quantities, ranging from 40 to 50 million tons per year from cell phones, televisions, refrigerators, and computers.

“Africa: Digital Graveyard” intensifies residents’ engagement in urban mining to extract valuable materials from e-waste to generate income. Yet, this precarious work exposes them to severe health risks and illnesses.

10. How the Rich World’s Electronic Waste Affects Poor Countries

By: Blame Game

This documentary concentrates on the widespread use and rapid replacement of electronic devices. It exposes how manufacturers do not provide productive solutions for managing the growing waste, much of which is exported to a lethal dump in Ghana. There, scavengers desperately try to salvage what they can from the unwanted electronics from third-world countries.

“How the Rich World’s Electronic Waste Affects Poor Countries” analyzes the troubling reality of global e-waste disposal. It conveys how legal ambiguities, insufficient investment in recycling, unethical businesses, and the geopolitical enforcement of existing laws result in lost opportunities and environmental harm. For the residents of Agbogbloshie, this situation has given rise to appalling living conditions in a poisonous scrapyard.

11. Recycling e-waste – Good for business and the environment

By: DW Documentary

Of the e-waste stored in a recycling facility, 70% is ideally recyclable!

This documentary takes an in-depth look at the escalating problem of e-waste and the innovative efforts to address it. Rather than disposing of outdated or malfunctioning devices, the documentary highlights the pivotal movement toward repairing and refurbishing them. Various companies are pioneering this initiative, implementing sustainable practices such as recycling solar panels to reclaim valuable materials and offering rental services for pre-owned smartphones, giving them a second life.

Through these endeavors, “Recycling e-waste – Good for business and the environment” establishes a collective ambition to reduce e-waste and protect our planet for future generations.

12. The Toxic E-Waste Trade Killing Pakistan’s Poorest

By: Journeyman Pictures

This documentary discloses how Pakistan is now an unsanctioned dumping ground for approximately 50 million tons of e-waste generated worldwide. In Karachi, the country’s largest city and financial hub, the impoverished population earns a living from this deadly waste; however, this harmful consumption cycle endangers health and the environment.

The huge influx of e-waste has contributed to an informal recycling industry that supports 150,000 people. Many of the country’s poor residents recollect what they can, mostly copper, steel, and brass, from the remnants of electronic circulation to make ends meet. Tragically, every year, 4 million people die due to e-waste, and recycling workers in Pakistan have the lowest life expectancy.

“The Toxic E-Waste Trade Killing Pakistan’s Poorest” is a powerful reminder of our tremendous tech usage and the repercussions of e-waste on communities in developing countries, not unlike Pakistan.

13. E-Waste Is Poisoning Malaysia And Thailand – What Can Be Done?

By: CNA Insider

This documentary points out an overlooked issue – e-waste. Used electronics contain toxic chemicals and heavy metals. Irresponsible disposal harms human health, poisons land, and contaminates water. Asia generates the most e-waste. Owing to unauthorized imports, Southeast Asia is increasingly becoming a landfill site for e-waste. Thailand and Malaysia are the ones that receive the most from Western countries. Since Beijing, China, banned the import of e-waste, it “had to go elsewhere”.

“E-Waste Is Poisoning Malaysia And Thailand – What Can Be Done?” puts the rough e-waste patch in the picture and calls for responsible management and reliable recycling measures.

14. How to Turn Electronic Waste Into Raw Materials | Change The Future

By: Interesting Engineering

This documentary illustrates a facility in Kocaeli, Turkey that competently recycles e-waste and converts it into invaluable raw materials. E-waste is an unavoidable threat to our environment. For this reason, facilities are doing what must be done. “There is no such thing as waste” the managing director of the facility claims. If everything is in order, new materials can be created and our environment is safe from pollution.

“How to Turn Electronic Waste Into Raw Materials | Change The Future” spotlights the significance of scientifically and environmentally sound practices to unearth precious materials and promote a circular economy.

15. The Circuit: Tracking America’s Electronic Waste

By: EarthFixMedia

This documentary centers on the Basel Action Network, a Seattle-based organization that monitors and examines the fate of e-waste. By monitoring the activities of “recyclers” dealing with discarded electronic waste, it is determined that this waste is often exported, mainly to Hong Kong, which hosts one of the busiest shipping ports.

“The Circuit: Tracking America’s Electronic Waste” unmasks scenarios of unregulated landfills where immigrant workers sort e-waste to segregate it into groups and potentially sell it at fair prices.

Conclusion

The series of e-waste documentaries is an eye-opening note of the pressing necessity for conscientious consumption and efficient recycling methods to address the environmental and health risks associated with e-waste. By illuminating the international e-waste dilemma, these documentaries motivate us to rethink our electronic intake and endorse sustainable alternatives.