The transboundary loophole

Part of ‘Geo–Design: Junk. All That Is Solid Melts into Trash’, a collaboration between Design Academy Eindhoven and Van Abbemuseum. From 19 October to 17 November 2019 at the Van Abbemuseum Eindhoven.

Worldwide, we produce between 40 and 50 million tonnes of electronic waste each year. Of this waste, called e-waste, only 20 percent is recycled or disposed of properly, while 80 percent ends up in illegal, cross-border trade.

Traders label e-waste as second-hand goods and export it. In the receiving country, it is classified as waste. and it is then sometimes (partly) reused there, but mostly dumped. The rubbish from one country leads to an informal system of products, services and jobs in the other country.

Noud Sleumer uses satellite images to show a kind of atlas of E-waste sites. Symbolic objects, printed on postcards, tell the story of the local consequences of this global e-waste market. The installation shows how abuse goes hand in hand with development, and evokes a sense of urgency.