The charity group Computer Aid International has criticised a report by Gartner that states by refurbishing and exporting secondary PCs to emerging markets rather than disposing of them, the developed world is not assuming its responsibilities.

Gartner claims that by 2012 the emerging world will face an annual total of 30 million refurbished PCs which need disposing.

"Although repair and reuse are worthy goals, without efficient enforcement of worldwide legislation and controls, they are simply loopholes allowing for greenwash," said Charles Smulders, managing vice president at Gartner.

However, Tony Roberts, founder and CEO of Computer Aid International said: "Halting the transfer of technology from privileged countries to less privileged countries is not the right thing to do. Building capacity for responsible re-use and environmental recycling is the right thing to do.

"Computer Aid supports Gartner in highlighting the very real dangers of e-waste, but we would caution that by focusing on refurbished computers - which constitute such a tiny fraction of the overall volumes - Gartner is at risk of obscuring the real problem and the real villains."