Checking for Updates on Tracking System

The position of a Philips television which contains a tracking device is displayed on a computer screen. Greenpeace gave the television to engineers who dismantled it and discreetly installed the tracking device within the casing. The tracking equipment is a state-of-the-art system that operates on GPS, GSM and radio frequency. The device gives regular updates of position, and was used to track the TV from the UK to Africa.

Unique identifier: GP01QML

Type: Image

Shoot date: 16/11/2008

Locations: Africa, Lagos, Nigeria, Western Africa

Credit line: © Greenpeace / Kristian Buus

Ranking: ★★★★ (E)

Containers

Shoot:

E-Waste Trail from UK to Africa

Greenpeace investigates illegal exports of electronic equipment from the United Kingdom to Africa, by tracking a TV-set originally delivered to a municipality-run collection point for discarded electronic products. The television was tracked and monitored by Greenpeace using a combination of GPS, GSM, and an onboard radiofrequency transmitter placed inside the TV-set. Using this sophisticated tracking equipment, Greenpeace was able to prove that rather than being recycled, it was being sent to Africa. Despite regulations which specify that electronic goods must be certified as working before it is exported, the television arrived in Lagos, Nigeria in container no 4629416, without any prior testing. Hampshire County Council and other municipalities have a duty to recycle all electronic equipment properly. Instead the electronic waste is clearly being exported to Africa, using a cheap and dirty disposal route.

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