With ASKAR SHEIBANI

Chair, DBF and CEO, Comtek Network Systems UK Ltd

For decades the western world has been abusing the world's natural resources and manufacturing far in excess of our needs. These advanced nations have turned themselves into unhealthy consumer societies. Electronic waste is mounting at a terrifying speed across the world. According to the United Nations, over 50 million tons of e-waste are produced worldwide annually and it will reach 120 million tons by 2050 if we do nothing about it.

According to Gartner, an international research organisation; last year about 2.3 billion PCs, tablets and Smartphones were sold. The energy consumed to manufacture a microprocessor chip for a new laptop is more than constantly using a laptop for three years.

Technology manufacturers make the products by exploiting the cheap and abused workers in the most deprived communities in some of the poorest countries. They are making the products so inexpensive that, if they become defective, it would be cheaper to throw them away and just buy new ones. They are also making the products very complex and deliberately difficult to repair. The West has created a throwaway culture which is built on human exploitation and abuse of the world's precious resources such as rare earth materials. Sadly, most of the toxic e-waste is still illegally exported to some of the poorest nations with no safeguards or respect for human dignity.

I believe the UK should lead the world, be bold, resist some the biggest global technology polluters and introduce radical policies to tackle this environmental threat. The UK government can easily introduce legislation and heavy environmental taxation to persuade the manufacturers of technology products to make their products repairable. They should, just like car manufacturers, provide repair manuals and parts to independent repair businesses. The 'Right to Repair' must be enshrined within the UK environmental legislation.

The public sector organisations should consider deploying refurbished technology products and repairs, where possible, as their preferred option. The businesses community, governments and the public should work together to stamp out the unnecessary consumerism and the toxic nature of the throwaway culture. We can create repair organisations within our communities and with them much needed, skilled jobs. Extending the life cycle of technology products by just a few years, we could radically reduce our carbon emissions, global warming, and unnecessary international transportation and waste.