A/HRC/15/22 27. The Special Rapporteur considers that the extremely poor working practices and environmental conditions prevailing in most shipbreaking yards would continue to require the attention of the mandate holder. Although the Hong Kong Convention represents a positive step towards creating an enforceable regulatory regime to minimize the risks that shipbreaking poses to human health and the environment, the Special Rapporteur is of the view that the Convention alone is not sufficient to bring about significant improvements in the working practices prevailing in shipbreaking yards or in the elimination of the serious environmental pollution that the yards generate. 28. In May 2010, the seventh session of the Open-ended Working Group of the Basel Convention developed criteria to be used to determine whether the Hong Kong Convention establishes a level of control and enforcement equivalent to that established under the Basel Convention, and invited States and other relevant stakeholders to submit their preliminary assessments to the secretariat of the Basel Convention by 15 April 2011.14 The tenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention (COP-10), to be held in October 2011, is expected to consider these preliminary assessments. It is not yet certain whether parties will finalize their deliberations on the matter of equivalency at COP-10, or whether this issue will be referred to a later meeting. E-waste 29. Electrical and electronic wastes, commonly referred to as e-waste, encompass a broad and growing list of loosely discarded, obsolete or broken electrical and electronic equipment, such as old mobile phones, computers, refrigerators and television sets. Because of the rapid changes in technology, people are upgrading their electrical and electronic equipment more frequently than ever before. The number of electrical and electronic products discarded globally has increased dramatically recently, with 20–50 million tonnes generated every year, i.e. roughly 5 per cent of all municipal solid waste produced worldwide.15 It is estimated that in Europe e-waste is increasing at 3 to 5 per cent a year, and that developing countries are also expected to triple their e-waste production over the next five years. 30. Mobile phones and computing equipment are causing the biggest problem, since they are replaced most often. 314.7 million mobile phones were sold worldwide in the first quarter of 2010, a 17 per cent increase on the same period in 2009.16 According to recent statistics, mobile phones now have a life cycle of less than two years in developed countries. A total of 366.1 million computers are expected to be sold in 2010, a 19.7 per cent increase on the 305.8 million units shipped in 200917 and their average lifespan in developed countries has dropped from six years in 1997 to two to five years in 2010. 31. Electronic and electrical appliances contain hundreds of different substances, many of which are highly toxic and pose significant risks to human health and the environment if they are not managed and disposed of in an environmentally sound manner. In developing countries, the vast majority of obsolete electrical and electronic equipment is dismantled in small-scale, informal workshops that separate their various components (i.e. plastic, ferrous metals, non-ferrous metals, glass) for recycling or reuse. During the process of breaking down old computers and other high-tech devices, workers are exposed to hazardous 14 15 16 17 10 UNEP/CHW/OEWG/7/21. http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/campaigns/toxics/electronics/the-e-waste-problem/. “Gartner says worldwide mobile phone sales grew 17 per cent in first quarter 2010”, 19 May 2010, http://www.gartner.com/it/page.jsp?id=1372013. PC sales to grow 20 per cent in 2010: Gartner, 4 March 2010, http://www.physorg.com/ news186937327.html. GE.10-14907