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TECHNOLOGY-BRAZIL:
E-Waste Can Produce Marvels
By Clarinha Glock*
PORTO ALEGRE, Brazil (IPS/IFEJ) -
Using pieces from all sorts of useless
equipment, students at the Computer Recovery
Centre in the southern Brazilian city of
Porto Alegre have put 1,700 computers into
operation in three years.
By the end of 2009 they should reach 2,500
computers, which will be distributed to
schools, day care centres, non-governmental
organisations and computer centres, bringing
technology to people who otherwise have
little or no access to it in this city of
1.5 million people, the capital of Rio
Grande do Sul state.
CRC's raw material is electronic waste from
the federal government, banks, private
companies and individuals, who get rid of
outdated computers to make way for newer
ones, or because they aren't able to repair
the ones they have.
Before, these computers, printers and tech
accessories would have been dumped in
landfills, but now they are seeing an
extension of their useful life, or are even
recycled as part of works of art.
The project is part of the Brazilian
Programme for Digital Inclusion and emerged
from a partnership between the Ministry of
Planning and the Marist Network for
Education and Solidarity, part of the Roman
Catholic order of Marist Brothers.
Centres like the one in Porto Alegre have
also opened in the states of Minas Gerais
and São Paulo, and in the federal district
of Brasilia, the capital.
As in the others, CRC of Porto Alegre is
located in a poor suburb. There, 88 young
people from low-income families receive a
scholarship that allows them to learn to
dismantle, recondition, adapt and rebuild
equipment, install free software, and
programme and configure computers.
But, most important, they discover the value
of each part in the process, not just of the
computers, but also of themselves as
citizens. "The course is important for its
professional side and the personal side,
because here people interact," says Keith
Garcia Reges, 16.
In the "disposable era," these students are
an exception. "We stop throwing away many
things and we learn to use more of what we
have at home," says the youth. There are few
people who can poke around inside a computer
without fear of breaking something, but at
CRC they have learned that anything can be
fixed.
Reges repairs computers, mobile phone
rechargers, speakers and fans. And the
knowledge multiplies. Reges invited two
classmates to present their work on
electronic waste in a demonstration at the
local school.
In the pavilion at the Marist Social Centre
(Cesmar) in the city, Rafael de Vasconcelos,
a 17-year-old who is passionate about
robotics, went even further. He began as a
volunteer when he was 15, working as a class
monitor, then was hired as an apprentice and
is now a teacher. With the scholarship money
he is paying for his studies in electrical
engineering at the university.
"When I'm in class, I'm happy to see that
I'm learning to mix these things that help
improve the world," he said.
Vasconcelos, who fixes old computers, is
aware that manufacturing a new computer has
more costs for the environment than
consumers imagine.
Everything that arrives at CRC is put to
use. Many pieces that cannot be repaired are
dismantled and are studied in the robotics
classes - the world of Vasconcelos.
Anyone who sees the mountain of junked
electronic slot machines on the Cesmar patio
is unlikely to realise the number of
products created from the illegal gambling
machines, seized by the federal tax
authorities and donated under one condition:
re-use the materials.
Vasconcelos proudly tells how he transformed
an old computer screen into an illuminated
sign. "It took us two months to map out the
electronic part, and then we plugged in the
computer's parallel port and made a
programme to post words and letters," he
explained, mixing English technical jargon
with his native Portuguese.
The knowledge acquired is passed on to the
new students. The wooden parts of the slot
machines will also be used to make stools,
decorations and tables, in a new project
this year to create new jobs and income.
In the back of CRC, electronic waste that
cannot be returned to technological use is
turned into art. The cover of an enormous,
outdated IBM computer becomes a
graffiti-covered work of art with an Easter
theme, which decorated Cesmar during Holy
Week.
When it was new, 12 years ago, the computer
cost 27,000 dollars, noted Tarcísio
Postingher, the centre's technical
coordinator. "The technology evolved so much
that it can no longer operate with the
current models," he explained.
Dismantled, it became a series of works that
express the youths' creativity and talent.
From its metallic parts emerged small
figures of soccer players, painted and set
in bases, which are used as trophies for
this popular sport.
When there are materials that CRC cannot
re-use, the centre itself makes sure they
are properly disposed of. Still in its early
stages, a market is developing in Brazil in
which companies collect electronic waste -
"e-lixo", in Portuguese - that comes from
computers, electronics and cell phones.
One of the companies is Lorene. "We process
some 200 tons of e-waste per month," says
production manager Eduardo Manuel Ribeiro de
Almeida.
From that processing come precious metals
like gold, silver, platinum, palladium and
copper, which are put back into the
productive chain, reducing the demand for
mining, according to Almeida.
CRC coordinator Postingher, who holds
graduate degrees in information technology
and theology, pointed out future challenges.
"In 2008, there were 12 million computers
sold in this country. That means that in two
or three years they will need to be disposed
of."
In addition to adapting to new technologies,
he said, it is essential to train
professionals with a global vision.
Attuned to the debates about green computer
technologies, Postingher noted that one of
the main problems of technology centres is
how to save electricity.
One possibility, he said, is to use one
virtual computer server that administers 10
services at the same time, reducing the
number of computers needed - and thus
reducing the energy consumed.
"This change in mentality is difficult,
because everyone wants to consume. We must
prepare people for the future, and that
requires education," Postingher said.
*This story is part of a series of features
on sustainable development by IPS - Inter
Press Service and IFEJ - International
Federation of Environmental Journalists, for
the Alliance of Communicators for
Sustainable Development (www.complusalliance.org).
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