A significant illegal trade in ‘e-waste’ has developed with thousands of discarded computers arriving every day in the ports of West Africa. Once there, children are often used to dismantle them and extract metals . However, this has resulted in huge toxic dumps and serious health problems for resident in the surrounding area.
Breeding toxins from dead PCs Guardian (6/5/08)
Questions
| 1. | Identify the principal external costs resulting from this illegal trade in e-waste. |
| 2. | Using diagrams as appropriate, show the impact of this market failure on the market for new computers. |
| 3. | Evaluate two policies that the international community could adopt to reduce this illegal trade in e-waste. |