The Global Community for Sustainable Energy Professionals
Technical losses also come from inefficient domestic appliances – seen here are examples of the many used refrigerators that are imported from, among other place, France, Germany and Spain.
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This can be seen as really disappointing, but also a great platform from which developing countries in Africa can boost their infrastructure and technology's role in daily life. There should be a group put together to ship energy efficient fridges/large appliances to these developing countries so that they can strengthen their infrastructure and simultaneously boost their environmental know-how.
Energy-efficient Fridges
Michelle --
Affluent countries have many ways to deal with worn out cars and appliances. The infrastructure is in place to recycle metal, plastic, paper, etc. But there is another way. That Way is to remove working cars and appliances out of our countries through companies who sell our old, unwanted cars and appliances to third and fourth world countries. We are rich and they are poor. True, their countries become graveyards for some of our trash, but you have to be there to see their squalor, their real want. They know where this stuff comes from. They jostle and compete to get this merchandise for themselves, to improve their lives. The only way they will get energy efficient appliances is for the appliances to age and make their way to them, or for them to become affluent enough to buy new. You could try and put new merchandise into the "system", but unless this market was flooded with people like you dumping new, energy-efficient appliances into the "system", the good stuff would be noticed and picked over by the workers in our own countries, many of whom are also in want. This is just the tip of the iceberg. There are other problems down there, which this forum is not equipped to voice. Most of them don't even have electricity, for instance. I could write a booklet.
This is why recycling is essential, just think how many people in poor countries could benefit from all those refrigerators . If only some company would cover the export expenses.