E-WASTE by Nien-Yun Cheng

E-Waste A Disconcerting Problem Facing Us Today

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E-W A S T E

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E-W A S T E

E-Waste A Disconcerting Problem Facing Us Today

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E-W A S T E

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credits E-Waste Book design copyright © 2010 by Nien-Yun Cheng Published by Nien-Yun Cheng for course number GR.434 — OL1, Typography 4: Complex Hierarchy, taught online by Carolina de Bartolo in Summer 2010 at Academy of Art University, San Francisco, CA. Printed on an Epson Photo R1800, Bound at Herring and Robinson, Brisbane, CA. US. All rights reserved.

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E-W A S T E

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Electronic

waste

contents section >>

01 02

background >> e- wa s te 02 w h at is e- wa s te ? 03 h o w is e- wa s te gener ated

h o w m uch e- wa s te is

being discar ded ?

h o w m uch e- wa s te ge ts

a big

issue ?

s tor ed

s to ck piled ?

being s old ?

problem >> h o w serio us built-in ill

t he pr o ble m s ?

ar e

pr o ble m s

effects of

da nger o us

h a z ar ds of electr onic

glo bal tr a de

issues of

un con tr olled

t he da nger s

e- wa s te

exp orts

envir on men t

beco mes

fact >>

h o w m uch electr onics ar e

a nd

electr onis

wa s te

wa s te r ecycling

e- wa s te

solution >> 58 in ciner ation 62 r euse 62 r ecycle 65 exp ort 69 l a ndfill

consu mer a war eness

efforts

w her e d oes e- wa s te end w h at ca n

i d o wit h m y

pr o cessing taking

techniq ues

it back

up ?

72 74

e- wa s te ?

39 t hr e at to childr en

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E-W A S T E

c h a p t er background >>

The United States prohibits placing electronic waste, fluorescent tubes, consumer batteries and mercury thermostats into trash. Known as ‘Universal Waste’, these items can harm human health and the environment if improperly disposed of. Although these products may not be dangerous to use, most of them contain poisonous ‘heavy metals’ such as lead, mercury and cadmium that can pollute groundwater near landfills. Almost anything considered ‘electronic’ is banned from landfills. These items include computers, monitors, peripherals, phones, TVs, VCRs, DVD players, stereos, microwave ovens, PDAs, iPods, etc. Customers at Recology San Francisco (the dump) can dispose of up to 30 electronic items per month for free if they are delivered without any other type of garbage. Get hours and directions to the SF dump. In addition, many Goodwill stores accept working and non-working electronics. The Bulky Item Collection Program collects all residential electronic wastes for free. What is known is that e-waste recycling involves complex processes and it is more costly to recycle e-waste in the United States, where there is a limited recycling infrastructure. It also is known that most consumer electronics manufacturers (who provide the market for material recovery from recycled electronics) have moved overseas. As a result, the majority of e-waste collected for recycling appears to be exported for processing.

01 Mor e than 3 0 i tems ar e char ged a t a r a te o f $1.5 0 per piece. If the elec tr onic s ar e mi xed w i th gar b age, the r egular tipping fee applie s.

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E-W A S T E

> B A C K GROUN D

E -W a s t e Electronic waste, e-waste, e-scrap, or Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment describes loosely discarded, surplus, obsolete, or broken electrical or electronic devices. Environmental groups claim that the informal processing of electronic waste in developing countries causes serious health and pollution problems. Some electronic scrap components, such as CRTs, contain contaminants such as lead, cadmium, beryllium, mercury, and brominated flame retardants. Activists claim that even in developed countries recycling and disposal of e-waste may involve significant risk to workers and communities and great care must be taken to avoid unsafe exposure in recycling operations and leaching of material such as heavy metals from landfills and incinerator ashes. Scrap industry and USA EPA officials agree that materials should be managed with caution, but that environmental dangers of unused electronics have been exaggerated by groups which benefit from increased regulation.

> B A C K GROUN D

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W h at i s E -W a s t e ? The term “e-waste” is applied to consumer electronic equipment that is no longer wanted. E-waste can include computers, printers, televisions, VCRs, cell phones, fax machines, stereos, and electronic games. “Electronic waste” may be defined as all secondary computers, printers, VCRs, fax machines, stereos, and electronic games, entertainment device electronics, mobile phones, and other items such as television sets and refrigerators, whether sold, donated, or discarded by their original owners. Electronics may contain lead, copper, and other heavy metals or potentially toxic substances. It is critical to reduce e-waste by only buying what you need, reuse electronics that still work, and finally recycle electronics at the end of their useful life cycle. This definition includes used electronics which are destined for reuse, resale, salvage, recycling, or disposal. Others define the re-usables (working and repairable electronics) and secondary scrap (copper, steel, plastic, etc.) to be “commodities”, and reserve the term “waste” for residue or material which was represented as working or repairable but which is dumped or disposed or discarded by the buyer rather than recycled, including residue from reuse and recycling operations. Because loads of surplus electronics are frequently commingled (good, recyclable, and non-recyclable), several public policy advocates apply the term “e-waste” broadly to all surplus electronics. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) includes discarded CRT monitors in its category of “hazardous household waste”. but considers CRTs set aside for testing to be commodities if they are not discarded, speculatively accumulated, or left unprotected from weather and other damage. Debate continues over the distinction between “commodity” and “waste” electronics definitions. Some exporters may deliberately leave difficult-to-spot obsolete or non-working equipment mixed in loads of working equipment (through ignorance, or to avoid more costly treatment processes).

Elec tr onic w as te, “e - w as te” or “ Was te Elec tr ic al and Elec tr onic Equipmen t” (“ W EEE”) i s a was te t y pe consi s ting o f any br oken or unwan ted elec tr ic al or elec tr onic appli ance.

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> B A C K GROUN D

Protectionists may broaden the definition of “waste” electronics. The high value of the computer recycling subset of electronic waste (working and reusable laptops, computers, and components like RAM) can help pay the cost of transportation for a large number of worthless “electronic commodities”.

H o w i s E -W a s t e g e n e r at e d ? Manufactures need to use certain chemicals, elements, and compounds to synthesize a final consumer product. Years of R&D, multiple product generations, and consumers willingness to “upgrade”, creates a constant supply of this type of waste. Items that contain numerous electrical components, generate the largest amount of E-waste. (i.e. Computers) The issue at large is that because of the toxic nature of electronic components, our landfills are becoming polluted and these toxins are seeping into underwater reservoirs. This presents an environmental hazard for our habitat and ecosystem. In the United States and Europe, E-waste, at large, is regulated, however many other countries have less stringent regulations. Economically speaking, a lot of countries, instead of investing money to develop a process to recycle this waste, ship it out to third world countries. Initially this seemed likethe logical move, until public awareness increased in regards to the situation.

> B A C K GROUN D

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Ye ar s o f R&D, multiple pr oduc t gener a tions, and consumer s w illingne s s to â&#x20AC;&#x153; upgr adeâ&#x20AC;?, cr e a tes a cons t an t suppl y o f thi s t y pe o f w as te. I tems tha t con t ain numer ous elec tr ic al componen t s, gener a te the lar ge s t amoun t o f E- w as te.

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Manufac tur es need to use cer t ain chemi c als, elemen t s, and compounds to s y n thesize a f inal consumer pr oduc t. Economic all y spe ak ing , a lo t o f countr ies, ins te ad o f inve s ting mone y to develop a pr oces s to r ec ycle thi s w as te, ship i t ou t to thir d wor ld countr ies.

> B A C K GROUN D

With the advent of multinational companies, factories and processing units we glow in the glory of the rapid development and prosperity. But beauty as always is just skin deep. Many of us hardly realize it. With electronic and electrical companies trying to meet the needs of the current generation, they generate a kind of waste that is hard to dispose. In this article would like to focus on e-waste and the dexterity involved in its disposal. E-waste can include computer central processing units, monitors, televisions, cell phones, pagers, i-pods, cathode ray tubes and other digital devices. The main source of e-waste is computers. Metallic compounds that are a major threat to the environment, like polyvinyl chloride, copper, arsenic, lead, cadmium, manganese, iron, cobalt, gold, beryllium and mercury are present in the electronic items including circuit boards, it are responsible for environmental pollution, causing health problems particularly in children. They can also lead to neurological disorders and cancer. The lax disposal of this waste into water bodiesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; results in a threat to aquatic life and incineration of this waste causes air pollution. Currently landfills are being used in certain regions but as the waste keeps piling up, exposure to the hazardous chemicals keeps on increasing. Dealing with electronic waste is a daunting task because there are no proper ways of disposing them.

T he i s sue a t lar ge i s tha t bec ause o f the tox ic na tur e o f elec tr onic componen t s,

With technology developing rapidly, computers turn obsolete quicker and we end up in more and more e-waste. The lifetime and diminishing rates of electronic goods makes the situation even worse for the environment. Every year there is a sheer rise in the number of Internet users and with everything becoming computerized, e-waste is becoming a prime concern to be dealt with. Experts predict that in 20 years, developing nations will be discarding 400-700 million personal computers annually. Experts predict that in 20 years, developing nations will be discarding 400-700 million personal computers annually.

> B A C K GROUN D

Experts predict that in 20 years, developing nations will be discarding 400-700 million personal computers annually. Developed nations, by contrast, will be throwing out 200-300 million a year. There is wide gap in the numbers, the reason for this mainly being the cheaper cost of disposal in developing countries. In US it costs approximately about 20 dollars to recycle a computer but in India it takes only 2 US dollars. This leads to an import of electronic waste to the developing countries. Tila Byehta, a village on the outskirts of New Delhi is the dumping ground for various electrical and electronic devices that we use. The villagers dismantle, refurbish and recycle the e-waste â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;manuallyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; thus posing a threat to their lives. It has been told that plastic coatings on copper wires are burned off and the water is polluted with the acids and cyanides used in extracting various metallic components from the circuit boards. These villagers are humbly willingly to do whatever they can to earn their daily share of bread. The simplest method to encourage people to recycle their electronic goods would be to charge them extra whenever they buy an electronic item, and reimburse it when they return the obsolete product. Conventional methods of disposal like open burning and land filling must be avoided. Companies should be encouraged to use lesser hazardous chemicals in manufacturing electronic goods and must prevent any manual disposal of the waste. Proper disposal of the waste is done in a series of three steps namely detoxication, shredding and refining. However the efficiency of these methods is low. Alternative methods such as cryogenic decomposition have been studied for printed circuit board recycling, and some other methods are still under investigation. Between 20 and 50 million tonnes of e-waste is generated worldwide annually. This was stated by the minister of Finance Dr. Muhtar Mansur at the International Conference on E-waste Control organised by NESREA in yesterday in Abuja.

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T hi s pr esen t s an env ir onmen t al haz ar d for our habi t a t and ecos y s tem. In the Uni t ed St a te s and Eur ope, E- w as te, a t lar ge, i s r egula ted, ho wever m any o ther coun tr ies have le s s s tr ingen t r egula tions.

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He said that experts estimated that 500 million computers became obsolete in the USA alone between the years 1997 and 2007, adding that 130 million cellular phones were distracted in the USA by the year 2005, resulting in 65000 tonnes of phone waste. million cellular phones were distracted in the USA by the year 2005, resulting in 65000 tonnes of phone waste. He stated further that 610 million mobile phones are to be disposed of in Japan by 2010, adding that every year; an EU citizen leaves behind 25kg of e-waste (SECO &EMPA 2003). In his address, Minister of Environment Mr. John Odey said that the consumers of electronic waste stream are growing faster than anticipated. He added that E- waste presents difficult challenges because of its weight, volume, storage need, and costs. “E-waste poses s long -term threat to public health and the environment because it is the largest source of heavy metals and organic pollutants in the solid waste stream,,” he said. Speaking Chairman House Committee on Environment Duro Faseyi lamented the influx of electronic wastes in to the country, saying the country stands at a higher risk of hazards that goes with it. “E-waste contains varying degree of pounds of lead and other hazardous components injurious to human health and the environment. Nigeria thus stands at a higher risk given the reality that it has become a dumping ground for all manner of second hand commodities ranging from computers to phones, used cars, fridges, and household appliances and so on resulting in increasing wave of electronic wastes in the country,” he said. Under most circumstances, e-waste can legally be disposed of in a municipal solid waste landfill or recycled with few environmental regulatory requirements. Concerns about e-waste landfill disposal have led federal and state environmental agencies to encourage recycling. These state requirements, mixed with increased consumer awareness regarding potential problems with landfilling e-waste, have led to an increase in recycling.

> B A C K GROUN D

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E-Wa s t e C ompo si t ion

Elec t r onic

9 5%

Moni t or s

80%

Tele v ision s

5 5%

C ompu t er s, t elephone s,fa x , pr in t er s, e t c

30%

D V D/ V CR play er s, C D play er s, r edio s, Hi- F i se t s

20%

Re f r iger a t or s

15%

Wa shing m ac hine s, dr y er s, air- c ondi t ioner s, v ac uum

waste

Elec t r ic waste

c le aner s, c of fee m ac hine s, t o a s t er s, ir on s, e t c

A growing share of municipal waste contains electronic or electric products. E-waste is one of the fastest growing waste streams and makes up approximately 4 per cent of municipal waste in the European Union. In the US, between 14 and 20 million PCâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s become obsolete every year. The chart is similar all over the world and e-waste is increasing steadily.

In the US, be t ween 14 and 2 0 million PCâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s become ob sole te ever y ye ar.

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E-W A S T E

c h a p t er fact >>

This is a chapter of available statistics that quantify the problems of electronic waste and e-waste recycling efforts. Each item includes its source and link to the original documents (where available), to make it easy for reporters to confirm data back to the original source. We assembled these statistics primarily for media and for legislators and advocates of e-waste policies. This list will be updated periodically as new statistics are released. Amount of E-Waste Trashed Vs Recycled (Tons) 2000 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 2007 While the total volume of e-waste generated in the US is steadily increasing, the percent that is diverted for recycling is not keeping pace with that growth. In 2007, we only diverted 13.6% of total discarded e-waste into recycling. Only 410,000 tons, or 13.6% is â&#x20AC;&#x153;recoveredâ&#x20AC;? for recycling. But some recyclers estimate that as much as 50 to 80% of that amount is exported for processing elsewhere, much of it going to developing countries, particularly in Asia. Under most circumstances, e-waste can legally be disposed of in a municipal solid waste landfill or recycled with few environmental regulatory requirements. Concerns about e-waste landfill disposal have led federal and state environmental agencies to encourage recycling. To date, 19 states have implemented some form of mandatory e-waste recycling program. These state requirements, mixed with increased consumer awareness regarding potential problems with landfilling e-waste, have led to an increase in recycling.

02 TRASHED: 8 6.4% 2.6 Million Tons O f thi s 3,010,0 0 0 tons, 2 ,6 0 0,0 0 0 tons (over 8 6%) ends up in landf ills or inciner a tor s.

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H o w M u c h E -w a s t e i s B e i n g Discarded? Remember how good it felt the last time you hauled your clunky, old computer and monitor out to the curb and went back inside to turn on your shiny, new PC? As it turns out, that quick trip to the trash wasn’t the best idea you ever had. A growing number of advocacy groups are working to educate the public on what happens to their discarded, old computers and why they may want to take more precautions when disposing them. What many of us don’t realize is that our electronics and other household electrical gadgets are potential Molotov cocktails, filled with unsavory heavy metals and toxic chemicals. Before we talk about the dangers, let’s first examine how ubiquitous these types of products have become in the U.S. and around the world. Americans own billions of electronic products, including 200 million computers.

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W he t her t r a shed or r ec y c led, w h a t ar e w e ge t t ing r id of e ac h y e ar? E-Wa s t e in 2 010 — Wa s i t t r a s hed o r r ec y c l ed P r oduc t s

To t al dispo sed {1}

Tr a shed

- million of uni t s

Tele v ision s

2 6.9

2 0.6

C ompu t er P r oduc t s (2)

2 0 5.5

157.3

C ell P hone s

14 0.3

12 6.3

E-Wa s t e in 2 010 — Wa s i t t r a s hed o r r ec y c l ed P r oduc t s

Rec y c led

Rec y c ling Ra t e

- million of uni t s

- b y w eigh t

Tele v ision s

6.3

18 %

C ompu t er P r oduc t s (2)

4 8.2

18 %

C ell P hone s

10 %

(1) T he se t o t als don’ t inc lude pr oduc t s t h a t ar e no longer u sed, bu t s t or ed. {2} C ompu t er pr oduc t s inc lude C P U s, moni t or s, no t ebook s, ke y bo ar d s, mic e, and “h ar d c op y per ipher als”, w hic h ar e pr in t er s, c opier s, mul t i’s and fa xe s. S our c e: EPA

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> F A CT

Over 3 million tons of e-waste disposed in 2010 in USA

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In 2 010, we gener a ted 3 .01 million tons o f ew as te in the US. O f thi s amoun t , onl y 410,0 0 0 tons or 13 .6% was r ec ycled, accor ding to the EPA . T he r es t was tr ashed – in landf ills or inciner a tor s. Selec ted consumer elec tr onic s include pr oduc t s such as T Vs, V CRs, D V D player s, v ideo c amer as, s te r eo s y s tems, telephones, and compu ter equipmen t.“ 3 No te: EPA’s 2 0 0 9 da t a i s ex pec ted in November or December 2 010.

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41.1 million de sk tops & lap tops 31.9 million compu ter moni tor s 4 0 0 million uni t s o f ew as te O ver 3 million tons o f ew as te di s posed in 2 0 0 7 in U SA 2 0 to 5 0 million me tr ic tons o f ew as te di s posed wor ldw ide e ach ye ar Onl y 13.6% o f di sposed e - w as te i s r ec ycled

> F A CT

The EPA (in report summarized above) estimates that 29.9 million desktops and 12 million laptops were discarded in 2007. That’s over 112,000 computers discarded per day. The EPA report (above) estimates that 31.9 computer monitors were discarded in 2007—both flat panel and CRTs. In a 2006 report, the International Association of Electronics Recyclers projects that with the current growth and obsolescence rates of the various categories of consumer electronics, (a broader list than the EPA used above, including DVDs, VCRs, mainframes) somewhere in the neighborhood of 3 billion units will be scrapped during the rest of this decade, or an average of about 400 million units a year. In 2007, we generated 3.01 million tons of e-waste in the US. Of this amount, only 410,000 tons or 13.6% was recycled, according to the EPA. The rest was trashed—in landfills or incinerators. Selected consumer electronics include products such as TVs, VCRs, DVD players, video cameras, stereo systems, telephones, and computer equipment.“3 Note: EPA’s 2008 data is expected in November or December 2009. Some 20 to 50 million metric tonnes of e-waste are generated worldwide every year, comprising more than 5% of all municipal solid waste. When the millions of computers purchased around the world every year (183 million in 2004) become obsolete they leave behind lead, cadmium, mercury and other hazardous wastes. In the US alone, some 14 to 20 million PCs are thrown out every year. In the EU the volume of e-waste is expected to increase by 3 to 5 per cent a year. Developing countries are expected to triple their output of e-waste by 2010. Only 13.6% of the consumer electronic products generated into the municipal waste stream (meaning, that people tossed out) were “recovered” for recycling in 2007. This compares to the overall recovery rate of all categories of municipal waste was 33.4% in 2007. A total of 41,000 tons of electronics were recovered in 2007.6.

[17]

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68% o f consumer s s tock pile

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H o w M u c h E l e c t ro n i c W a s t e Gets Stored or Stock piled? 68 percent of consumers stockpile used or unwanted computer equipment in their homes. The EPA estimates the following quantities of electronics were in storage by 2007 (not including cell phones) Televisions: 99.1 million Desktop computers: 65.7 million Desktop monitors: 42.4 million Notebook computers: 2.1 million Hard copy peripherals: 25.2 million (printers, copiers, faxes, multiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s) TOTAL: 234.6 million units in storage. With the advent of multinational companies, factories and processing units we glow in the glory of the rapid development and prosperity. But beauty as always is just skin deep. Many of us hardly realize it. With electronic and electrical companies trying to meet the needs of the current generation, they generate a kind of waste that is hard to dispose. In this article I would like to focus on e-waste and the dexterity involved in its disposal. E-waste can include computer central processing units, monitors, televisions, cell phones, pagers, i-pods, cathode ray tubes and other digital devices. The main source of e-waste is computers. Metallic compounds that are a major threat to the environment, like polyvinyl chloride, copper, arsenic, lead, cadmium, manganese, iron, cobalt, gold, beryllium and mercury are present in the electronic items including circuit boards,

2 3 5 million uni t s in s torage as o f 2 0 0 7, including 9 9 million T Vs

it are responsible for environmental pollution, causing health problems particularly in children. They can also lead to neurological disorders and cancer. The lax disposal of this waste into water bodiesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; results in a threat to aquatic life and incineration of this waste causes air pollution. Currently landfills are being used in certain regions but as the waste keeps piling up, exposure to the hazardous chemicals keeps on increasing. Dealing with electronic waste is a daunting task because there are no proper ways of disposing them.

> F A CT

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E-w a s t e ac c umul a t ion in Uni t ed St a t e s y e ar

2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2 010 2 011 2 01 2 2 013 2 014 2 015 2 016 710 0 6500 570 0 510 0 4600 4000 3800 3600 3 25 0 3000 2050 2020 E-w a s t e, c on s umer elec t r onic s, c umula t i ve E-w a s t e, elec t r onic indu s t r y, c umula t i ve

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> F A CT

Company Background Electric and electronic waste is piling up at an accelerating pace, causing environmental problems for governments and companies all over the globe. Mr. Rauno Holappa, a distinguished Finnish environmental technology veteran and president of Samill Ltd, predicted this development already in the late 1990s. Holappa explored the market. He recognized a business opportunity and set out to find technological solutions to the challenges ahead. His research resulted in several patented environmental products during the late 1990s, but he was too much ahead of his time. The market was not open yet. Now the demand for environmental technology is growing so fast that it’s claimed to be the world’s fastest growing industry, and Samill is ready. “Now, after years of relentless research and development, we have arrived. Our timing is right and our technology is cutting edge. We can offer e-waste recycling in a environmentally sustainable and financially profitable manner,” says Holappa. Samill Ltd. is one of the first major e-waste recyclers in the Shanghai area, due to the fact that the company has worked in close cooperation with a local research and design unit, supervised by the Chinese IT ministry, since 2003. “Our Chinese colleagues had benchmarked several international environmental technol-

T he i s sue a t lar ge i s tha t bec ause o f the tox ic na tur e o f elec tr onic componen t s,

ogy companies before they contacted us in 2003. They were searching for a technology that could live up to their upcoming new environmental laws and standards, a technology that could ensure environmentally sustainable development for years to come. Fortunately, we could offer them that,” says President Holappa. Samill is the first company in the world to develop a dry process which makes it possible to recycle all electric and electronic components without causing any damage to the environment. The technology also enables handling and recycling of all by-flow materials, such as toxic liquids, created in the manufacturing processes.

> F A CT

The processes used by the electronics industry result in many different toxic liquids. Our technology makes it possible to cleanse all the liquids and put them all back into circulation. We have great expectations regarding our technology, since there is nothing like it on the market. Samill is establishing an e-recycling plant in Shanghai, China, and pressing to strengthen its marketing and sales in the Chinese market. The opening of Samill’s new Shanghai office is an essential step in that direction. “Our technology and timing give us a head start in the Chinese market. We need to capitalize on that in order to achieve our goal of being one of the leading e-recyclers in the Chinese market by 2008”, President Holappa continues. The environmental technology and e-waste recycling market is claimed to be the world’s fastest growing industry. The demand for stricter environmental legislation and supervision can be heard all over the globe. The European Union implemented its WEEE directive concerning waste electrical and electronic equipment in August 2005. Now all manufacturers are required to recycle their own e-waste, which has boosted the demand for sufficient technologies. The Chinese government is also taking steps toward a more sustainable environmental policy. The People’s Republic of China’s State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) recently issued environmental protection technical guidelines for concentrated processing areas involved in the disposal and recycling of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), including waste electrical appliances, wires and cables, and electric motors. These technical guidelines, which were formulated to provide implementation details on the Law on the Prevention and Treatment of Environmental Pollution Caused by Solid Waste, will take effect in September. And just as in Europe, manufacturers will be required to gather, handle and recycle all e-waste produced. The prospect of the new law has already increased the demand for environmental and e-recycling technologies in China.

[21]

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> F A CT

produced. The prospect of the new law has already increased the demand for environmental and e-recycling technologies in China. The Chinese recycling market alone is expected to grow into a multibillion dollar business within the next ten years. Currently, China’s 1.285 billion inhabitants are estimated to produce 2 kilograms of e-waste per person annually. Which means there are 2.5 million tons of e-waste to recycle per year, and production is still growing rapidly. Europeans, for example, already produce more than 4 kilograms of e-waste per person annually.The Chinese figure does not include so-called historical e-waste; old computers, TV sets, radios and so forth, which have grown substantially during the last decade.

H o w M u c h E l e c t ro n i c s A r e Being Sold? Many statistics on sales are expressed in terms of “units shipped” from the manufacturers into their various sales channels. According to the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), consumers were expected to purchase 500 million units of consumer electronics in the US in 2008. US households spend about $1407 per year on hardware. According to the Consumer Electronics Association, US consumers purchased $172 billion in consumer electronics in 2008, up 5% from 2007 sales, despite the economic downturn. Sales are expected to remain at almost that level in 2009, at $171 billion. 15% of that revenue will be from television sales. The energy use of electronic equipment often goes unnoticed. But as it turns out, an estimated 10% to 15% of all electricity used in American homes can be attributed to the buzz of electronic devices. The vast majority is consumed by home entertainment systems and home office equipment. But small energy users, including portable devices with battery chargers, make up a significant share—not because they use a lot of energy individually, but because of their sheer numbers.

> F A CT

[23]

Consumer Elec tr onic s 5 0 0 million uni t s in 2 0 0 8 in US. $172 billion in consumer elec tr onic s pr oduc t s sold in 2 0 0 8. $171 billion pr oj ec ted for 2009

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According to Gartner, Inc, manufacturers shipped 305.8 million computers in 2009. 55% of these were mobile PCs (notebooks, netbooks, tablets).11 Ninety six million of these were to the U.S. “Worldwide PC shipments are projected to total 366.1 million units in 2010, a 19.7 percent increase from 305.8 million units shipped in 2009, according to the latest preliminary forecast by Gartner, Inc. Worldwide PC spendingis forecast to reach $245 billion in 2010, up 12.2 percent from 2009.” US consumers bought 3.3 million HD TVs for Super Bowl 2010, up from 2.6 million in 2009. 14 Americans bought 3.9 million TVs for the 2008 Super Bowl, according to the National Retail Federation.15 That’s up more than 50% from the 2.5 million we bought for the 2007 superbowl. We bought 1.7 in 2006. The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) predicts that in 2009, we will buy 34.5 million digital TVs in the US, up from 26.8 sold in 2008. They predict that 29.8 million of these will be HD TVs. Manufacturers earned over $25 BILLION selling digital TVs in 2007. “According to new CEA sales projections, manufacturers will post 11 percent revenue growth, to over $25 billion, from sales of digital televisions in 2007. CEA also forecasts 13 percent revenue and 17 percent unit sales growth for digital television in 2008.” 211 million TVs sold worldwide in 2009. Market research firm DisplaySearch said 211 million TVs were sold worldwide in 2009. This was 2% higher than 2008, despite expectations that sales would decrease due to economic conditions. North America accounts for 83% of the 50”+ TV market. We are buying BIG TVs. While the average TV size in North America is 29.5 inches, North America accounted for 83% of the 50”+ market and 52% of the 40”+ market. As of January, 2008, the ENERGY STAR label for TVs will indicate low active-mode power use as well (when the TV is actually on). Under 40 inches, choose a TV with an LCD screen. The average plasma TV uses more energy per year than a modern refrigerator. We do not recommend purchasing any TV with a screen greater than 40 inches at this time.

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C ompu t er s per 1,0 0 0 pe ople Sw i t zer land Sw eden Uni t ed St a t e s I sr e al C an ad a A u s t r ali a Ne t her land s Denm ar k Uni t ed K ingdom 0

200

400

600

According to Gartner, Inc, 1.21 billion mobile phones were sold in 2009, a slight decrease over 2008. Of those, 172.4 million were smartphones. 4 BILLION cell phone users worldwide. “By the end of 2008, an important milestone in the ICT [information and communications technologies] development race was achieved: over 4 billion mobile cellular subscriptions worldwide…” The air smells acrid from the squat gas burners that sit outside homes, melting wires to recover copper and cooking computer motherboards to release

800

10 0 0

1.211 billion cell phones sold wor ld w ide in 2 010 3 0 5 million compu ter s sold in 2 0 0 9 wor ld w ide. T he US bough t 9 6 million o f them.

gold. Migrant workers in filthy clothes smash picture tubes by hand to recover glass and electronic parts, releasing as much as 6.5 pounds of lead dust. China now produces more than 1 million tons of e-waste each year, said Jamie Choi, a toxics campaigner with Greenpeace China in Beijing. That adds up to roughly 5 million television sets, 4 million fridges, 5 million washing machines, 10 million mobile phones and 5 million personal computers, according to Choi. “Most e-waste in China comes from overseas, but the amount of domestic e-waste is on the rise,” he said. A number of manufacturers now offer high-efficiency power supplies (typically “switch-mode” power supplies) and a growing number of products are sold with these improved devices.

Compu ter s ale s pr oj ections: 3 6 6 million wor ld w ide in 2 010, up 2 0 % over 2 0 0 9. 70 % o f those w ill be mobile PC s.

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A ccor ding to the Consumer Elec tr onic s A s soci a tion (CEA ), consumer s wer e ex pec ted to pur chase 5 0 0 million uni t s o f consumer electr onic s in the US in 2 0 0 8. US households spend abou t $14 0 7 per ye ar on har d war e. A ccor ding to Gar tner, Inc, 1.21 billion mobile phones wer e sold in 2 0 0 9, a sligh t decr e ase over 2 0 0 8. O f those, 172.4 million wer e smar tphones.2

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This business is driven by pure economics. For the West, where safety rules drive up the cost of disposal, it’s as much as 10 times cheaper to export the waste to developing countries. Upwards of 90 per cent ends up in dumps that observe no environmental standards, where shredders, open fires, acid baths and broilers are used to recover gold, silver, copper and other valuable metals while spewing toxic fumes and runoff into the nation’s skies and rivers. Accurate figures about the shady and unregulated trade are hard to come by. However, experts agree that it is overwhelmingly a problem of the developing world. They estimate about 70 per cent of the 20-50 million tons of electronic waste produced globally each year is dumped in China, with most of the rest going to India and poor African nations. Americans threw out just shy of three million tons of household electronics in 2006. Some of these phones are mined for precious metals, many go to landfil, tons go to companies who resell them used in the developing world who do not have the waste infrastructure to dispose of them properly when the phone’s life is finally over. Cellphones are the most valuable form of e-waste. Each one contains about a dollar’s worth of precious metals, mostly gold. And while single phones house far less hazardous material than a computer — an old, clunky monitor can incorporate

A ccor ding to Gar tner, Inc, manufac tur er s shipped 3 0 5.8 million compu ter s in 2 0 0 9. 5 5% o f these wer e mobile PC s (no tebooks, ne tbooks, t ab le t s) . Nine t y si x million o f the se wer e to the U.S.

seven pounds of lead—their cumulative presence is staggering. Last year, according to ABI Research, 1.2 billion phones were sold worldwide. Sixty percent of them probably replaced existing ones. In the United States, phones are cast aside after, on average, 12 months. And according to the industry trade group CTIA, four out of every five people in the country own cellphones. The Afterlife of a Cell Phone from Cellphones.org lays out the toxic hazards that come with mobile devices becoming not only ingrained in our very psyches but deep into our environment also.

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Using data from the United States Geological Survey and mining companies’ own reports, Earthworks estimates that mining the gold needed for the circuit board of a single mobile phone generates 220 pounds of waste. The environmental nonprofit calls this “an extremely conservative” estimate. meanwhile drawers turn out to be the real purgatory for phones. Using predictions from Inform, the United States Geological Survey estimates that in 2005 there were already more than half a billion old phones sitting in American drawers. That added up to more than $300 million worth of gold, palladium, silver, copper and platinum and recyclers say that from their vantage point it’s obvious that most phones are retired because of psychological, not technological, obsolescence. Right now, there are roughly 470 models of phone for sale in the United States. About 16 new ones come out every month. Many are only slightly altered versions of existing phones, suggesting how easily we get bored—how we’ll crave something that slides, say, instead of flips open. Way cool ideas and book. “Somewhere during the last 100 years, we learned to find refuge outside the species, in the silent embrace of manufactured objects,” Jonathan Chapman, a young product designer and theorist at the University of Brighton, writes in his book “Emotionally Durable Design.” But designers and consumers have snared themselves in an unsustainable trap, Chapman told me, since our affection for many high-tech objects is tied exclusively to their newness. The stats and story are thus: In 1985, there was less than half a million cell phones in use in the United States. Now there are nearly 280 million cell phone, and over 150 million phones are being replaced every year. On average, people use their cell phones for only 18 months. 1.2 billion handsets are sold worldwide every year. Cell phone life expectancy is about 1.5 years. The average household in the US and UK has 3 unused cell phones. An estimated 130 million cell phones are thrown away every year in the US alone creating as much as 65,000 tons of waste containing toxins such as: cadmium, lead, arsenic, mercury and find their way to the local municipal landfil.

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US consumer s bough t 3 .3 million HD T Vs for Super Bo w l 2 010, up fr om 2.6 million in 2 0 0 9. 14 A mer ic ans bough t 3 .9 million T Vs for the 2 0 0 8 Super Bo w l, accor ding to the Na tional Re t ail Feder a tion.15 T ha t’s up mor e than 5 0 % fr om the 2.5 million we bough t for the 2 0 0 7 super bo w l. We bough t 1.7 in 2 0 0 6. T he Consumer Elec tr onic s A s soci a tion (CEA ) pr edic t s tha t in 2 0 0 9, we w ill bu y 3 4 .5 million digi t al T Vs in the U S, up fr om 2 6.8 sold in 2 0 0 8. T he y pr edic t tha t 2 9.8 million o f these w ill be HD T Vs.

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T he c a tegor y o f “selec ted consumer electr onic pr oduc t s” gr e w b y almos t 6% fr om 2 0 0 6 to 2 0 0 7, fr om 2.8 4 million tons to 3.01 million tons.5 W hile i t’s no t a lar ge p ar t o f the w as te s tr e am, e - w as te sho w s a higher gr o w th r a te than any o ther c a tegor y o f municip al w as te in the EPA’s r epor t. O ver all, bet ween 2 0 0 5 and 2 0 0 6, to t al volumes o f municip al was te incr e ased b y onl y 1.2% , comp ar ed to 8.6% for e was te.

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E-waste is the fastest growing municipal waste stream in the US

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c h a p t er problem >>

Rapid change in technology, low initial cost, and planned obsolescence have resulted in a fast-growing surplus of electronic waste around the globe. Dave Kruch, CEO of Cash For Laptops, regards electronic waste as a â&#x20AC;&#x153;rapidly expandingâ&#x20AC;? issue. Technical solutions are available, but in most cases a legal framework, a collection system, logistics, and other services need to be implemented before a technical solution can be applied. An estimated 50 million tonnes of E-waste is produced each year. The USA discards 30 million computers each year and 100 million phones are disposed of in Europe each year. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that only 15-20% of e-waste is recycled, the rest of these electronics go directly into landfills and incinerators. In the United States, an estimated 70% of heavy metals in landfills comes from discarded electronics, while electronic waste represents only 2% of Americaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s trash in landfills. Because e-waste recycling is largely unregulated, virtually no data are available to track its fate. Accurate data regarding how much is generated, how it is managed, and where it is processed (either domestically or abroad) are largely unavailable. What is known is that e-waste recycling may involve costly, complex processes and that there is not a sufficient recycling infrastructure for the United States to manage its own e-waste.

03 T he EPA s t a tes tha t unw an ted elec tr onic s to t aled 2 million tons in 2 0 0 9, and 3 million tons in 2 010.

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H o w s e r i o u s a r e t h e p ro b l r m s ? The U.S. National Safety Council estimates that 75% of all personal computers ever sold are now gathering dust as surplus electronics. While some recycle, 7% of cellphone owners still throw away their old cellphones. Surplus electronics have extremely high cost differentials. A single repairable laptop can be worth hundreds of dollars, while an imploded cathode ray tube (CRT) is extremely difficult and expensive to recycle. This has created a difficult free-market economy. Large quantities of used electronics are typically sold to countries with very high repair capability and high raw material demand, which can result in high accumulations of residue in poor areas without strong environmental laws. Trade in electronic waste is controlled by the Basel Convention. The Basel Convention Parties have considered the question of whether exports of hazardous used electronic equipment for repair or refurbishment are not considered as Basel Convention hazardous wastes unless they are discarded. The burden of proof that the items will be repaired and not discarded rest on the exporter, and any ultimate disposal of non-working components is subject to controls under that Convention. In the Guidance document produced on that subject, that question was left up to the Parties. Like virgin material mining and extraction, recycling of materials from electronic scrap has raised concerns over toxicity and carcinogenicity of some of its substances and processes. Toxic substances in electronic waste may include lead, mercury, and cadmium. Carcinogenic substances in electronic waste may include polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). Capacitors, transformers, and wires insulated with or components coated with polyvinyl chloride (PVC), manufactured before 1977, often contain dangerous amounts of PCBs. Up to 38 separate chemical elements are incorporated into electronic waste items. Many of the plastics used in electronic equipment contain flame retardants. These are generally halogens

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added to the plastic resin, making the plastics difficult to recycle. Due to the flame retardants being additives, they easily leach off the material in hot weather, which is a problem because when disposed of, electronic waste is generally left outside. The flame retardants leach into the soil and recorded levels were 93 times higher than soil with no contact with electronic waste. The unsustainability of discarding electronics and computer technology is another reason commending the need to recycle or to reuse electronic waste. When materials cannot or will not be reused, conventional recycling or disposal via landfill often follow. Standards for both approaches vary widely by jurisdiction, whether in developed or developing countries. The complexity of the various items to be disposed of, the cost of environmentally approved recycling systems, and the need for concerned and concerted action to collect and systematically process equipment are challenges. One of those studies indicates that two thirds of executives are unaware of fines related to environmental regulations.

B u i lt- i n P ro b l e m s E-waste has many types of poisons built into it. Some of these toxic substances are what make the devices safe when they operate. Cathoderay-tube televisions and computer monitors, last-century standbys of home and office, have enormous amounts of lead built into the glass to stop stray radiation from escaping. If these old TVs and PCs are improperly discarded at the dump, they can shatter and release dangerous amounts of lead into the ground and eventually into the water table. Extreme care must be taken to remove the lead from the glass and dispose of it in an ecologically sound manner. Semiconductors in computer chips and modern circuitry also contain many poisons, including gallium arsenide, cadmium, and beryllium. Mercury is sometimes used in switches. PVC, a known carcinogen, is

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used in the plastic coatings of the wires and cables, and brominated flame retardants are included in other plastics, such as the outer casing of processors. If these products are burned, or fragmented and pulverized into dust as happens in some low-tech developing-world recycling operationsâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;they release highly toxic substances into the atmosphere. If theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re thrown into landfills and allowed to break down over time, they release the same poisons into the land and possibly into the water table. Trade in electronic waste is controlled by the Basel Convention. The Basel Convention Parties have considered the question of whether exports of hazardous used electronic equipment for repair or refurbishment are not considered as Basel Convention hazardous wastes unless they are discarded. The burden of proof that the items will be repaired and not discarded rest on the exporter, and any ultimate disposal of non-working components is subject to controls under that Convention. In the Guidance document produced on that subject, that question was left up to the Parties. Like virgin material mining and extraction, recycling of materials from electronic scrap has raised concerns over toxicity and carcinogenicity of some of its substances and processes. Toxic substances in electronic waste may include lead, mercury, and cadmium.

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I l l Eff e c t s o f E -W a s t e Lead is toxic to the kidneys, accumulating in the body and eventually affecting the nervous and reproductive systems. Children’s mental development can be impaired by low-level exposure to lead. When burned, PVC produces dioxins, some of the most hazardous carcinogens known. Brominated flame retardants have been linked to fetal damage and thyroid problems. Barium produces brain swelling after a short exposure. It may cause weakness in muscles as well as heart, liver, and spleen damage. Hexavalent chromium damages kidneys, the liver, and DNA. Asthmatic bronchitis has been linked to this substance. Mercury is known to harm developing fetuses and is passed through the mother’s milk to newborns. In adults it can cause brain and kidney damage. Beryllium causes acute or chronic beryllium disease, a deadly ailment affecting the lungs. Cadmium is a carcinogen and long-term exposure leads to kidney and bone damage. The environmental impact of e-waste is somewhat of a hidden problem in technologically advanced countries. Even though such countries are the primary source of e-waste, one who lives within these countries would be hard pressed to find examples of it within their borders. How can this be so? And if there is such a large problem how can it’s environmental impact be evaluated? Since the invention of radio and television in the early part of the last century the electronics industry has been steadily gaining momentum. With the introduction of computer technologies and cell phones, the electronics industry is regarded as the worlds largest and fastest growing manufacturing industry. As electronic products become cheaper and cheaper they tend to rapidly become obsolete. This years model is out of date in just two or three years. And so electronic waste is also quickly becoming the fastest growing waste stream in the industrialized world. The United Nations Environment Program estimates that 20 to 50 million tons of electronic equipment waste is generated each year, worldwide. The International Association of Electronics Recyclers says that an average of 200 million

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T he r epor t goe s on to sho w tha t w i th the ad ven t o f w idespr e ad Digi t al T V in the US, due in 2 0 0 9, tha t over 60 million T V se t s w ill become obso le te b y 2 010, adding fur ther to the electr onic was te s tr e am.

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TV’s and one billion pieces of computer equipment will disposed of each year for the rest of this decade. Yet because of the hazardous materials which are used in their manufacture, the European Union, the US and Canada and others have developed policies with the intent of keeping this waste out of their landfills. Thus, the emergence of the recycling of e-waste. The Environmental Protection Agency has issued reports regarding e-waste. They say that there are many parts in appliances, computers and peripherals that could be re-used but the cost of recycling is too high to make it profitable. So what happens to it? The Basel Action Network (BAN) estimates that 80% of e-waste sent to be recycled is not recycled. It is shipped to other countries. According to an environmental report called “The Digital Dump”, put out by BAN, used appliances, computer equipment and cell phones are being collected and sent to developing nations. This is being done under the guise of “building bridges over the digital divide”. The idea is supposed to be that the equipment, although used, is in working order and will assist people in these poor countries.

T he y also sho w tha t onl y 2 0 % o f the e- w as te in the Uni ted St a tes ge t s sep ar a ted for fur ther pr oce s sing or r ecover y.

However, this same report estimates that 75% of the equipment received are broken appliances, cell phones and computer equipment that are actually useless. Because is it not usable, most of it ends up in river beds, land fills and on road sides. And this is not just waste. It is toxic waste. Non functioning cathode ray tubes from televisions and monitors are defined as hazardous materials because they contain lead and barium. Then there are brominated flame retardants in plastics and circuit boards, beryllium alloys in connectors, lead-tin based solders, batteries and mercury switches which contain toxic materials such as lead, mercury, cadmium and chromium. These are all classified as hazardous waste by US Federal Law.

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So this equipment and itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s toxic contents wind up in foreign ports, landfills and on the sides of roads. Then destitute scavengers looking for something useful are exposed the the hazardous waste as they pick through the rubble. Some try to make some money by repairing the equipment. But lacking the knowledge about, and protection from, these toxic materials they contaminate themselves and others. Even if not disturbed in the landfill, these toxic materials will leach into the ground and water supplies. What it boils down to is this: The wealthy, industrialized and technologically advanced nations of the world are using the poor, developing countries as toxic waste dumps. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not intentional on your part or mine. The politicians in these wealthy countries might do something about it if they were capable. But in industrialized countries if there is no profit in it, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not going to happen, especially on such a large scale. Short of a bold politician who will go against the grain, it is up to individuals, you and I, to think about what we do with our electronic waste. And it is up to us to carefully consider what happens to our electronic waste when it is put into the hands of others who say they will safely dispose of it.

D a n g e ro u s E x p o r t s Disposing of e-waste is a global concern. While the developed world has consumed the largest share of the more than one billion personal computers sold, the less-developed countries have tended to pay the environmental price. Cheap labor and lax environmental laws have created an e-waste trail from the developed world to Asia and Africa, where many of the digital discards are sent for reprocessing. Workers often take the computers and their toxic monitors apart with no protection from such hazardous substances as lead, cadmium, or beryllium, and that can easily compromise their health and pollute

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their land and water. An international accord known as the Basel Convention has banned the export of such hazardous waste to poorer countries, but the practice continues, as pointed out by Chris Carroll in National Geographic’s January 2008 issue. According to the Basel Action Network, the recyclers in those countries reap only about six dollars’ worth of gold and other material from our unwanted electronics. Local charity drives in the U.S. often collect old computers “for Africa” or other far-flung places, on the assumption that the inhabitants need these modern devices if they’re to “catch up.” A few of these hand-me-downs arrive in a usable condition after some refurbishing, but more often the recipients wind up footing the bill for the disposal of the West’s well-intentioned handouts.

On average a monitor contains about 5 pounds of lead. Within a typical PC there are numerous hazardous metals that when dumped into landfills leach into the soil and ground water.

T he br e akdo w n of me t als w i t hin E-Wa s t e

1. 2 %

L e ad

2. 2 %

O t her me t als

3. 2 3 % P la s t ic 4 . 25% S ilic a (Gla s s) 5. 14% Z inc 6. 7%

C opper

7. 6 %

Ir on

8. 21% A luminum M a t er i al Tox in c on t en t

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E n v i ro n m e n ta l H a z a r d s o f E l e c t ro n i c W a s t e The Negative Environmental Impacts of E-waste Disposal New technology breeds electronic obsolescence, creating a growing e-waste environmental problem. Even electronic waste recycling can have negative environmental impacts. The electronics manufacturing industry, one of the largest and fastest growing in the world is also one of the most innovative sectors, constantly creating and utilizing new technology, with the result that product obsolescence is inbuilt. These facts combine to give an ever increasing stream of waste products with harmful environmental consequences. Growth of Electronic Waste. Vital Waste Graphics by Elaine Baker et al and published by the United Nations Environmental Programme in October 2004 states that “It is estimated that there are over a billion personal computers in the world at present. In developed countries these have an average life span of only 2 years. In the United States alone there are over 300 million obsolete computers.” An article published in the CEA Market Research Report in March 2008, titled “Trends in CE Reuse, Recycle and Removal” estimates that in the United States, “During 2007, consumers report removing 289 million units of TVs, VCRs, Cell Phones, Desktop PCs, Laptop PCs and PC monitors from their homes.” The report goes on to show that with the advent of widespread Digital TV in the US, due in 2009, that over 60 million TV sets will become obsolete by 2010, adding further to the electronic waste stream. Figures from Toxic Tech: Not in our Backyard, published by Greenpeace in February 2008 show that of the 8.7 million tons of waste from electrical and electronic equipment produced in the European Union, only 25% of it gets collected and treated. They also show that only 20% of the e-waste in the United States gets separated for further processing or recovery. Although most of them constitute an indispensable part of our everyday lives, their hazardous effects on the environment and health cannot be overlooked.

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T he y also sho w tha t onl y 2 0 % o f the e - w as te in the Uni ted St a te s ge t s sep ar a ted for fur ther pr oce s sing or r ecover y.

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The EPA estimates that only 15-20% of e-waste is recycled

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In 2 010, we gener a ted 3 .01 million tons o f e - w as te in the U S. O f thi s amoun t , onl y 410,0 0 0 tons or 13 .6% was r ec ycled, accor ding to the EPA . T he r es t w as tr ashed in landf ills or inciner a tor s. Selec ted consumer electr onic s include pr oduc t s such as T Vs, V CRs, D V D player s, v ideo c amer as, s ter eo s y s tems, telephones, and compu ter equipmen t.â&#x20AC;&#x153; 3 No te: EPAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 2 0 0 9 da t a i s ex pec ted in November or December 2 010.

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High Tech Trash by Elizabeth Grossman, published by Island Press in 2006 states “The cathode ray tubes in computer and television monitors contain lead —which is poisonous to the nervous system—as do circuit boards. Mercury—like lead—a neurotoxin, is used in flat-panel display screens. Some batteries and circuit boards contain cadmium, known to be a carcinogen.” The fact sheet “Electronic Product Management Issues” published by the California Integrated Waste Management Board in February 2002 states “When disposed in landfills, these products have the potential to contribute significant levels of toxic materials to the leachate produced in landfills. These include lead, polychlorinated biphenyls, mercury, cadmium, arsenic, zinc, chromium, and selenium.” Environmental Approach to Electronic Waste. E-waste is a growing environmental problem which does not lend itself to traditional waste management solutions. An integrated life cycle approach to e-waste is needed. Toxic Tech: Not in our Backyard states “PVC is a chlorinated plastic used in some electronics products and for insulation on wires and cables. Chlorinated dioxins and furans are released when PVC is produced or disposed of by incineration.”

U n c o n t ro l l e d e l e c t ro n i c w a s t e r e c y c l i n g t h r e at t o c h i l d r e n Current EU policy on Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) highlights the need for greater recycling of electrical and electronic equipment to limit the total quantity of waste going to landfill. However, research carried out in China suggests that if recycling is not carried out safely then there is a significant risk to human health and the environment. The researchers from Hong Kong studied Guiyu, a village in southeast China which has a significant electronic circuit board recycling industry. Villagers melt solder from the circuit boards and sort electrical components, which they sell to electrical appliance factories.

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Circuit boards contain many toxic metals. The researchers tested dust from the recycling workshops, and also from the nearby road, food market and schoolyard. They found high levels of dangerous heavy metals which would have an impact on the health of the recycling workers and would pose a high risk to children. The researchers tested for the metals cadmium, cobalt, chromium, copper, nickel, lead and zinc. These metals can cause both acute and long-term toxicity. Of these metals, high levels of lead and copper were the greatest cause for concern. High lead levels are associated with lower IQ in children. Electronic devices may contain any of a host of hazardous constituents.

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T he y found high levels o f danger ous he av y me t als w hich would have an imp ac t on the he al th o f the r ec ycling wor ker s and would pose a high r i sk to childr en.

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High le ad levels ar e as soci a ted w i th lo wer IQ in childr en.

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Other research has shown that both workers and children in Guiyu have a high incidence of bone disease, as well as digestive, neurological and respiratory problems, which may be linked to metal toxicity. A risk assessment indicated that recycling workers could be exposed to 50 times the safe oral lead dose. Workers transport the metals into their homes from the workshop as dust, transferring the dust to their children. In a separate study, children of circuit board workers were found to have higher levels of lead in their blood than those whose parents recycled plastics. The metals get into the body through the skin or when dust is inadvertently eaten or breathed in. The health risk to children at all locations around the village was around eight times greater than that to adults. Few studies to date have determined the extent of the problems caused by uncontrolled electronic waste recycling. Similar waste is commonly recycled in African countries as well as India and Vietnam. Awareness of the consequences of uncontrolled recycling could prevent some of the same mistakes being repeated in these countries. The amount of WEEE generated in the European Community is growing rapidly and Policy makers would like to see more WEEE recycling. The EU WEEE directive seeks to encourage safe recycling, addressing issues such as managing the risks of handling hazardous components, which as this case study shows, can cause concerns if recycling is not carried out safely. As the amount of e-waste grows, the problems associated with electronic waste are being recognized. Most developed countries are now legislating on

In a sep ar a te s tud y, childr en o f cir cui t bo ar d wor ker s wer e found to have higher levels o f le ad in their blood than those w hose p ar en t s r ec ycled plas tic s.

e-waste disposal and encouraging recycling and reuse of old electronic products. Toxic Tech: Not in our Backyard states that â&#x20AC;&#x153;The major issue for both the US and the EU to address is that e-waste is currently exported to less industrialized countries such as China and India, where recycling and recovery takes place with little regard for the human health or environmental consequences.â&#x20AC;?

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Unfortunately, even recycling of electronic waste is causing environmental problems. The HighTech Trashing of Asia by Jim Puckett et al and published by the Basel. Action Network in 2002 states “Informed recycling industry sources estimate that between 50 to 80 percent of the wastes collected for recycling are not recycled domestically at all, but very quickly placed on container ships bound for destinations like China.” Electronic waste is a growing environmental hazard that needs to be curtailed. The solution to this problem lies not in indiscriminate landfill use or unethical exportation, but in the responsible recycling and reuse of electronic materials. In humans, lead can cause damage to both the central and peripheral nervous systems and the kidneys. It can also cause damage to the blood system. The effects of lead to the endocrine system have also been observed and its serious negative effects on the development of the brain in children have been well documented. In addition, lead accumulates in the environment and has high acute and chronic toxic effects on plants, animals and microorganisms. Consumer electronics constitute 40% of lead found in landfills. The main concem regarding the presence of lead in landfills is the potential for the lead to leach and contaminate drinking water supplies. So what are the main sources of lead in computers? The main sources of lead in computers are: the soldering in printed circuit boards and other electronic components, and the glass panels in computer monitors (cathode ray tubes). Statistically speaking, between the years 1997 and 2004, over 315 million computers will become obsolete in the USA, which adds up to about 1.2 billion pounds of lead. E-waste is a growing environmental problem which does not lend itself to traditional waste management solutions. An integrated life cycle approach to e-waste is needed. Toxic Tech: Not in our Backyard states “PVC is a chlorinated plastic used in some electronics products and for insulation on wires and cables. Chlorinated dioxins and furans are released when PVC is produced or disposed of by incineration.”

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Global tr ade issues Increased regulation of electronic waste and concern over the environmental harm which can result from toxic electronic waste has raised disposal costs. The regulation creates an economic disincentive to remove residues prior to export. Critics of trade in used electronics maintain that it is too easy for brokers calling themselves recyclers to export unscreened electronic waste to developing countries, such as China, India and parts of Africa, thus avoiding the expense of removing items like bad cathode ray tubes (the processing of which is expensive and difficult). The developing countries are becoming big dump yards of e-waste due to their weak laws. Proponents of international trade point to the success of fair trade programs in other industries, where cooperation has led creation of sustainable jobs, and can bring affordable technology in countries where repair and reuse rates are higher. Defenders of the trade in used electronics say that extraction of metals from virgin mining has also been shifted to developing countries. Hard-rock mining of copper, silver, gold and other materials extracted from electronics is considered far more environmentally damaging than the recycling of those materials. They also state that repair and reuse of computers and televisions has become a “lost art” in wealthier nations, and that refurbishing has traditionally been a path to development. South Korea, Taiwan, and southern China all excelled in finding “retained value” in used goods, and in some cases have set up billion-dollar industries in refurbishing used ink cartridges, singleuse cameras, and working CRTs. Refurbishing has traditionally been a threat to established manufacturing, and simple protectionism explains some criticism of the trade. Works like “The Waste Makers” by Vance Packard explain some of the criticism of exports of working product, for example the ban on import of tested working Pentium 4 laptops to China, or the bans on export of used surplus working electronics by Japan.

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Opponents of surplus exports argue that lower environmental and labor standards, cheap labor, and the relatively high value of recovered raw materials leads to a transfer of pollutiongenerating activities, such as burning of copper wire. In China, Malaysia, India, Kenya, and various African countries, electronic waste is being sent to these countries for processing, sometimes illegally. Many surplus laptops are routed to developing nations as “dumping grounds for e-waste”. Because the United States has not ratified the Basel Convention or its Ban Amendment, and has no domestic laws forbidding the export of toxic waste, the Basel Action Network estimates that about 80% of the electronic waste directed to recycling in the U.S. does not get recycled there at all, but is put on container ships and sent to countries such as China. This figure is disputed as an exaggeration by the EPA, the Institute for Scrap Recycling Industries, and the World Reuse, Repair and Recycling Association. Independent research by Arizona State University showed that 87-88% of imported used computers had a higher value than the best value of the constituent materials they contained, and that “the official trade in end-of-life computers is thus drive by reuse as opposed to recycling.” Guiyu in the Shantou region of China, Delhi and Bangalore in India as well as the Agbogbloshie site near Accra, Ghana have electronic waste processing areas. Uncontrolled burning, disassembly, and disposal can cause a variety of environmental problems such as groundwater contamination, atmospheric pollution, or even water pollution either by immediate discharge or due to surface runoff (especially near coastal areas), as well as health problems including occupational safety and health effects among those directly involved, due to the methods of processing the waste. Thousands of men, women, and children are employed in highly polluting, primitive recycling technologies, extracting the metals, toners, and plastics from computers and other electronic waste. Recent studies show that 7 out of 10 children in this region have too much lead in their blood.

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Incr e ased r egula tion o f elec tr onic w as te and concer n over the env ir onmen t al har m w hich c an r e sul t fr om tox ic electr onic w as te has r ai sed di s pos al cos t s.

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Proponents of the trade say growth of internet access is a stronger correlation to trade than poverty. Haiti is poor and closer to the port of New York than southeast Asia, but far more electronic waste is exported from New York to Asia than to Haiti. Thousands of men, women, and children are employed in reuse, refurbishing, repair, and remanufacturing, sustainable industries in decline in developed countries. It is held that denying developing nations access to used electronics denies them affordable products and internet access. Opponents of the trade argue that developing countries utilize methods that are more harmful and more wasteful. An expedient and prevalent method is simply to toss equipment onto an open fire, in order to melt plastics and to burn away unvaluable metals. This releases carcinogens and neurotoxins into the air, contributing to an acrid, lingering smog. These noxious fumes include dioxins and furans. Bonfire refuse can be disposed of quickly into drainage ditches or waterways feeding the ocean or local water supplies. In June 2008, a container of electronic waste, destined from the Port of Oakland in the U.S. to Sanshui District in mainland China, was intercepted in Hong Kong by Greenpeace.Concern over exports of electronic waste were raised in press reports in India, Ghana,Ivory Coast,and Nigeria.

T h e d a n g e r s o f E -w a s t e Current EU policy on Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) highlights the need for greater recycling of electrical and electronic equipment to limit the total quantity of waste going to landfill. However, research carried out in China suggests that if recycling is not carried out safely then there is a significant risk to human health and the environment. The researchers from Hong Kong studied Guiyu, a village in southeast China which has a significant electronic circuit board recycling industry.

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W h a t ar e t he spec i f ic d anger s of elec t r onic w a s t e? D anger ou s t ox in

T he spec i f ic d anger s of elec t r onic w a s t e ar e t he e f fec t s t h a t le ad, c admium, mer c ur y, hexav alen t c hr omium, pla s t ic s, P V C, and br omin a t ed f lame r e t ar d an t s h ave on hum an he al t h and t he env ir onmen t . T he d anger s po sed b y e ac h of t he se sub s t anc e s ar e disc u s sed a s belo w:

L e ad

Be t w een t he y e ar s 2 0 0 4 and 2 010, o ver 315 million c ompu t er s w ill bec ome ob s ole t e in t he US A , w hic h add s up t o abou t 1.2 billion pound s of le ad!

C admium

Be t w een t he y e ar s 2 0 0 6 t o 2 0 0 9, o ver 315 million c ompu t er s w ill bec ome ob s ole t e and w ill r e sul t in almo s t 2 million pound s of c admium c on t en t .

Mer c ur y

B y t he y e ar 2 0 0 9, 315 million ob s ole t e c ompu t er s w ill c on t ain mor e t h an 4 0 0,0 0 0 pound s of mer c ur y. O ver 315 million c ompu t er s ar e de s t ined t o bec ome ob s ole t e be t w een 19 9 7 and 2 0 0 4, w hic h r epr e sen t s abou t 1.2 million pound s of hexav alen t c hr omium.

P l a s t ic s

Be t w een 2 0 0 4 and 2 010, t her e w ill be mor e t h an 4 billion pound s of pla s t ic pr e sen t in t his w a s t e s t r e am. Elec t r onic s pla s t ic sc r ap amoun t s t o mor e t h an 1 billion pound s per y e ar (5 8 0,0 0 0 t on s per y e ar).

PVC

P V C i s a di f f ic ul t pla s t ic t o r ec y c le and i t als o c on t amin a t e s o t her pla s t ic s in t he r ec y c ling pr oc e s s. O f mor e impor t anc e, ho w e ver, is t he fac t t h a t t he pr oduc t ion and bur ning of P V C pr oduc t s gener a t e s diox in s and f ur an s, w hic h ar e per sis t en t or g anic pollu t an t s.

S our c e: 1. M a s s ac hu se t t s Dep ar t men t of Env ir onmen t al P r o t ec t ion Regula t ion 3 10 -CMR 19.01 7. 2. US N a t ion al S afe t y C ounc il, â&#x20AC;&#x153; T he Elec t r onic P r oduc t Rec o ver y and Rec y c ling B a seline Repor t ,â&#x20AC;? M ay 19 9 9.

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Villagers melt solder from the circuit boards and sort electrical components, which they sell to electrical appliance factories. Throwing away your old computer or TV monitor can be dangerous â&#x20AC;&#x201C;and illegal. In April 2000, the State of Massachusetts became the first state to ban residents from discarding their old computers and TV monitors. This first electronic ban was triggered due to the use of CRTs (cathode ray tubes) in both devices. According to the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, CRTs, on average, contain between five to eight pounds of lead. In lieu of disposal, the ban promotes recycling and/or donation of computers and TV monitors. As a result, TV and computer monitors will no longer be accepted at transfer stations, landfills or combustion facilities, and landfill operators who knowingly accept these items will be automatically fined $25,000.

Lead In humans, lead can cause damage to both the central and peripheral nervous systems and the kidneys. It can also cause damage to the blood system. The effects of lead to the endocrine system have also been observed and its serious negative effects on the development of the brain in children have been well documented. In addition, lead accumulates in the environment and has high acute and chronic toxic effects on plants, animals and microorganisms. Consumer electronics constitute 40% of lead found in landfills. The main concem regarding the presence of lead in landfills is the potential for the lead to leach and contaminate drinking water supplies. So what are the main sources of lead in computers? The main sources of lead in computers are: the soldering in printed circuit boards and other electronic components, and the glass panels in computer monitors (cathode ray tubes). Statistically speaking, between the years 1997 and 2004, over 315 million computers will become obsolete in the USA, which adds up to about 1.2 billion pounds of lead.

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Cadmium Cadmium compounds are classified as “toxic” with a possible risk of irreversible effects on human health since cadmium and cadmium compounds accumulate in the body, particularly in the kidneys. In addition, cadmium is also absorbed through respiration and is taken up with food. Due to its long half-life (30 years), cadmium can easily be accumulated in amounts that cause symptoms of poisoning. Cadmium also shows a danger of cumulative effects in the environment due to its acute and chronic toxicity. In electrical and electronic equipment, cadmium is found in certain components such as surface mounting device (SMD) chip resistors, infrared detectors and semiconductors.

In elec tr ic al and elec tr onic equipmen t , c admi um i s found in cer t ain compo nen t s such as sur face moun ting dev ice (SMD) chip r esi s tor s, infr ar ed de tec tor s and semiconductor s.

Older types of cathode ray tubes contain cadmium, and it is also used frequently as a plastic stabilizer. To illustrate the magnitude of cadmium content resident in old electronic devices, between the years 1997 to 2004, over 315 million computers will become obsolete and will result in almost 2 million pounds of cadmium content.

Mercury When inorganic mercury spreads out in bodies of water, it is transformed to methylated mercury in the bottom sediments. Methylated mercury can easily accumulate in living organisms and concentrate through the food chain, particularly through fish. Methylated mercury has also been found to cause chronic damage to the brain. It is estimated that 22% of the world’s yearly consumption of mercury is used in electrical and electronic equipment. Mercury is commonly used in thermostats, position sensors, relays and switches (i.e., on printed circuit boards and in measuring equipment) and discharge lamps. Mercury is also used in medical equipment, data transmission devices, telecommunications devices, mobile phones, batteries, switchedhousing, and printed wiring boards. By the year 2004,315 million obsolete computers will contain more than 400,000 pounds of mercury. Hexavalent Chromium

L e ad i s a tox ic me t al tha t c an c ause delayed neur ologic al developmen t in childr en and o ther ad ver se he al th e ffec t s in adul t s, including in cr e ased blood pr es sur e, nephr i ti s, and cer ebr o- vas cular di se ase.

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E-waste is responsible for as much as 70% of the heavy metals in landfills, including 40% of all lead.

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1234567 MMC

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I t i s e s ti ma ted tha t 22% o f the wor ldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ye ar l y consump tion o f mer cur y i s used in elec tr ic al and elec tr onic equipmen t.

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{Chromium VI) Some manufacturers still apply this substance as corrosion protection of untreated and galvanized steel plates. Hexavalent chromium is also used as a decorative and hardener for steel housing. Chromium VI can easily pass through membranes of cells, where it is easily absorbed. Once absorbed in cell membranes, Chromium VI has been found to produce various toxic effects within the cells. For example, it has been found to cause strong allergic reactions in humans, even in small concentrations. Asthmatic bronchitis is a common allergic reaction that is linked to chromium VI. Chromium VI may also cause DNA damage. Hexavalent chromium compounds are toxic to the environment as well. For example, it is well documented that chromium IV contaminated wastes can leach from landfills. Also, the incineration of waste containing chromium IV results in the generation of fly ash â&#x20AC;&#x201D; from which the chromium is leachable. It is for this reason that there exists a widespread agreement among scientists that wastes containing chromium should not be incinerated. It has been estimated that over 315 million computers are destined to become obsolete between 1997 and 2004, which represents about 1.2 million pounds of hexavalent chromium.

Plastics Based on the estimate that over 3 15 million computers will become obsolete between 1997 and 2004, there will be more than 4 billion pounds of plastic present in this waste stream. (Plastics make up about 13.8 pounds per computer on average.) An analysis commissioned by the Microelectronics and Computer Technology Corporation (MCC) estimates that electronics plastic scrap amounts to more than 1 billion pounds per year (580,000 tons per year). This study also estimates that the largest volume of plastics used in electronics manufacturing (26%) is polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a plastic that creates more environmental and health hazards than most other types of plastic.

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While many computer companies have recently reduced or phased out the use of PVC, there is still a large volume of PVC residing in computer scrap that will grow, according to estimates, up to 250 million pounds per year.

PVC The use of PVC in computers has been mainly limited to cabling and computer housings in the past; however, most of the newer computer moldings are now being made of acrylonitrilebutadiene-styrene (ABS) plastic. In earlier years, PVC cabling was widely used for its fire retardant properties, but the fumes from the cabling were found to be a major contributor to fatalities. For safety reasons, low-density alternatives, such as polyethylene and thermoplastic olefins are now often substituted in place of PVC. PVC is a difficult plastic to recycle and it also contaminates other plastics in the recycling process. Of more importance, however, is the fact that the production and burning of PVC products generates dioxins and furans, which are persistent organic pollutants. PVC, which is commonly used in packaging and household products, is a major cause of dioxin formation in open burning and garbage incinerators. Hospitals in the US are now beginning to phase out the use of PVC products, such as disposable gloves and IV bags, because of the dangers posed by incinerating these products. Also, many local authorities in Europe have PVC-free policies for municipal buildings, pipes, wallpaper, flooring, windows and packaging. In the US, recent concerns about the use of softeners (in PVC plastic toys) leaching out into childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s mouths have lead to further restrictions on the use of PVC. Electronic devices may contain any of a host of hazardous constituents. Cathode ray tubes (CRTs)9 found in televisions and computer monitors and printed wire boards (PWBs) often contain significant amounts of lead.10 CRTs contain an average of four pounds of lead but may contain more, depending on the size, age, and make of the device.

P V C, w hich i s commonl y used in p ackaging and household pr oduc t s, i s a major c ause o f diox in for m ation in open bur ning and gar b age inciner a tor s.

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c h a p t er solution >>

Electronic waste, or e-waste, is piling up so fast that no one can properly dispose of it. Recyclers process more than 1.5 billion pounds of electronics equipment annually. The International Association of Electronics Recyclers (IAER) says that the enormous volume of end-of-life electronics from all industry sectors will require its members to grow their capacity by a factor of four or five by the end of this decade. An estimated 250 million PCs will become obsolete in the next five years. Mobile phones, which the IAER projects will be discarded at a rate of about 130 million a year by 2005, will result in 65,000 tons of waste, much of it toxic. “These are significantly larger quantities than had been forecasted in the past,” states an IAER study released last year. Smaller doesn’t help. The rapid introduction of increasingly miniaturized (and upgraded) consumer electronic products has simply sped up the replacement of older devices, most of which are being trashed rather than recycled. A report produced last year by the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition suggests that if all consumers decided to throw out their obsolete computer at the same time, the country would face a “tsunami” of e-scrap. It also is known that markets for e-waste (either for reuse or recycling for scrap) are largely overseas. As a result, the majority of e-waste collected for recycling appears to be exported for processing.

04 Elec tr onic w as te pr o ce s sing s y s tems have ma tur ed in r ecen t ye ar s, follo w ing incr e ased r egula tor y, public, and commer ci al scr u tiny, and a commensur a te incr e ase in en tr epr eneur i al in ter e s t.

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L andfill A landfill, also known as a dump or rubbish dump (and historically as a midden), is a site for the disposal of waste materials by burial and is the oldest form of waste treatment. Historically, landfills have been the most common methods of organized waste disposal and remain so in many places around the world. Landfills may include internal waste disposal sites (where a producer of waste carries out their own waste disposal at the place of production) as well as sites used by many producers. Many landfills are also used for other waste management purposes, such as the temporary storage, consolidation and transfer, or processing of waste material (sorting, treatment, or recycling). A landfill also may refer to ground that has been filled in with soil and rocks instead of waste materials, so that it can be used for a specific purpose, such as for building houses. Unless they are stabilized, these areas may experience severe shaking or liquefaction of the ground in a large earthquake. According to the US EPA, more than 4.6 million tones of e-waste ended up in US landfills in 2000. Toxic chemicals in electronics products can leach into the land over time or are released into the atmosphere, impacting nearby communities and the environment. In many European countries, regulations have been introduced to prevent electronic waste being dumped in landfills due to its hazardous content. However, the practice still continues in many countries. In Hong Kong for example, it is estimated that 10-20 percent of discarded computers go to landfill. Fully lined landfills replaced the old, unlined dumps that were previously used throughout the state and country, and the liner and cap requirements of each state vary slightly. Below is a drawing showing a cross section of a typical landfill. The stringent new laws and regulations governing landfills require huge sums of money to be set aside to close landfills. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Closingâ&#x20AC;? a landfill basically means putting a cap over the top of the landfill and sealing it off.

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By requiring money to be set aside, the public is ensured that lack of funds can never be a reason for not properly closing a landfill. When the landfill reaches “grade” (meaning the pre-determined height limit specified in its permits) a thick cap of clay and soil is placed over the entire site. The cap at Epperson consists of cover soil, overlain with a Geosynthetic Clay Liner, a 40 mil LLDPE plastic liner, geocomposite drainage layer and a minimum of 3’ of vegetative soil cover and topsoil. Once the cap is in place, the entire area is seeded with a mixture of grasses to blend in to the natural beauty of Grant County. The cap prevents rainwater from filtering down through the landfill. Instead, the rainwater runs off and is collected in fresh-water ponds on the site. At Epperson, the company has set aside a substantial amount of money to place this cap on the landfill. Although Epperson is part of a large, financially strong corporation with adequate funds to close the landfill, this money is required by law to be specifically set aside for closure. Then, after the cap is installed and grass is growing and the landfill blends into the landscape, the company is required by law to “monitor” the landfill for 30 years. The company is required to set aside specific funds for this monitoring—in addition to the funds used for closing the landfill. Epperson has set aside a significant amount of money to monitor the landfill for at least 30 years after it has stopped receiving waste. This monitoring includes regularly mowing and checking (and repairing, if necessary) the cap. Also, the water (leachate) that is sealed within the landfill continues to be collected by the network of pipes at the bottom of the landfill, and that leachate continues to go to tanks and must be hauled off to a treatment facility. The company must continue checking the groundwater monitoring wells that surround the facility, as well as the freshwater ponds. Waste disposed at the facility is generated at homes and businesses in and around Grant County and other counties in the region.

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A ccor ding to the U S EPA , mor e than 4 .6 million tones o f e - w as te ended up in US landf ills in 2 0 0 0.

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75% o f the 3 million compu ter s bough t in A us tr ali a ever y ye ar w ill end up in landf ill

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Most waste comes to the facility within a 50-mile radius of the site. Non-hazardous solid waste from homes and commercial establishments, also referred to as municipal solid waste or MSW, is accepted at the landfill. Also, non-hazardous construction and demolition waste from homes and commercial establishments is accepted. Industrial wastes may be accepted at the landfill provided they pass certain environmental tests. No liquid or hazardous wastes are accepted. Additionally, the landfill does not accept untreated medical waste, car batteries or whole tires for disposal. The network of environmental protection systems at the Epperson Landfill starts with a composite liner that is made of clay and synthetic material. A minimum of two feet of clay is compacted to increase the impermeability of the liner. A 60-mil high-density plastic membrane is placed over the clay. The liner system meets all state and federal regulations. The liner system is overlain by a leachate collection system consisting of a geocomposite drainage layer and a network of perforated pipe. The leachate collection system collects any liquids that infiltrate and percolate through the waste, and transports these liquids to collection tanks. Once collected, this liquid is either recirculated through the waste, or transported from the landfill to a wastewater facility for treatment.

Elec tr onic w as te i s r esponsible for 70 % o f the tox ic chemi c als such as le ad, c admi um and mer cur y found in landf ill.

Rainfall, which is diverted from the landfill, must also be managed. Storm water runoff is collected and contained in sediment ponds. The ponds allow soil particles to settle out of the water before it is discharged to a nearby waterway. Surface water discharges are tested monthly, and the results are submitted to the Kentucky Division of Water. roundwater is one of the most important concerns at a landfill and requires special monitoring. Groundwater monitoring wells have been installed throughout the site to ensure that landfill operations are not impacting groundwater. Each of the wells is sampled on a quarterly basis, with the results sent to the Kentucky Division of Waste Management.

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GA gas management system is in place to control the methane gas naturally produced during waste decomposition. The gas is collected and safely burned at a single flare stack located on the site. This system helps control odors by minimizing landfill gas migration. Proper daily operations are critical to environmentally sound waste disposal. Therefore, all employees at Epperson Landfill are trained to handle incoming waste in the most environmentally responsible manner. Access to the site is limited to one public entrance and one exit. The facility records and tracks all shipments to the landfill with gate receipts. Each load of incoming waste is visually inspected to ensure that only permitted materials are accepted for disposal. Once unloaded, the waste is immediately compacted to conserve airspace. At the end of each working day, daily cover is placed over the compacted waste to minimize odors. Steps are also taken to control dust and litter at the landfill. Periodic watering of access roads prevents dust from rising when trucks travel in and out of the landfill. Limiting the size of the active disposal area, applying daily cover and using fencing on windy days to catch lightweight materials, minimizing litter. Laborers collect any litter that blows off site from the landfill. Headlines abound with stories of branded technology being fished out of rivers and landfills in developing nations leaking toxic metals into the water supply. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates roughly 400,000 tons of e-waste goes to recyclers every year, and that up to 80 percent of the materials sorted for recycling end up in operations in China, India, Southeast Asia and West Africa where it is disassembled and burned or dumped. But it doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have to be that way, declares Mark Newton, the senior manager of environmental sustainability at Dell Computers, the computer manufacturing giant based in Round Rock, Texas. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a bold statement that acts as the foundation for Marriottâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s approach to managing the growing mountain of obsolete technology.

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I n c i n e r at i o n This releases heavy metals such as lead, cadmium and mercury into the air and ashes. Mercury released into the atmosphere can bio accumulate in the foodchain, particularly in fish—the major route of exposure for the general public. If the products contain PVC plastic, highly toxic dioxins and furans are also released. Brominated flame retardants generate brominated dioxins and furans when e-waste is burned.

Reuse A good way to increase a product’s lifespan. Many old products are exported to developing countries. Although the benefits of reusing electronics in this way are clear, the practice is causing serious problems because the old products are dumped after a short period of use in areas that are unlikely to have hazardous waste facilities.

Good ex ample of Nok i a phone Automakers have long given their best designers free rein to come up with “concept cars”—prototypes that highlight some new design or hightech feature but aren’t meant for the production line. Back in February, mobile-phone maker Nokia borrowed this idea and unveiled a concept phone called the Remade. The hook? It was made almost entirely of recycled materials, such as aluminum cans, plastic bottles, and even old car tires. The Remade is an example of upcycling, a form of recycling that takes used or recycled materials and creates a new product with a quality or value higher than that of the original materials. Materials that are designed to be upcycled are called technical nutrients. Traditional recycling is sometimes described as downcycling because the quality of the material degrades with each life cycle. Recycled paper isn’t as nice as newly printed paper; recycled steel isn’t as strong as newly forged steel.

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Nok i a’s ap tl y named phone, the Remade, i s an example o f “ upc ycling”— i t’s made o f aluminum c ans and o ther r ec ycled ma te r i als.

abc

def

ghi

jkl

mno

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tuv

wxyz

a/a

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(The in-between form—where the recycled material is basically the same as the original material—is called closed‑loop recycling.) Six billion humans generate an awful lot of e-waste (or for the hyphen-averse, ewaste) in the form of discarded computers, monitors, cellphones, and other electronic gewgaws. The process of recycling their components or metals is called e-cycling (or often ecycling), and it’s been getting a lot of press lately—and generating a lot of new lingo. Indeed, e‑scrap has the dubious honor of being the fastest growing segment of the garbage system. The sheer quantity of all this WEEE (waste electrical and electronic equipment) is bad enough, but then there are all its toxic heavy metals, such as lead, cadmium, and mercury, which leach out, harming nearby ecosystems. That’s why many municipalities around the world now mandate that old electronic appliances must be e-cycled. (According to Discover magazine, a new British law explicitly includes sex toys as an example of e-waste that must not be tossed out.) It’s no wonder we’re starting to see lots of reclaimers, which are firms that process so-called brown goods—obsolete electronic products such as radios and televisions. Reclaimers divide brown goods into historic scrap (or historic waste), which refers to obsolete electronics manufactured by a company that’s still in business, and orphan scrap (or orphan waste), obsolete items made by a firm that’s gone out of business. Reclaimers reclaim as much as they can, not only from computers and cellphones (which contain millions of dollars worth of copper, gold, silver, and other precious metals) but also an increasingly wide range of electronic goods, including VCRs, CD players, calculators, radios, stereos, CB radios, fax machines, and answering machines. The reclaimers sell what they can to manufacturers who upcycle the materials into new goods. What’s left requires certified destruction, in which an e‑scrap item such as a computer is carefully and completely dismantled so that it poses no danger to the environment. Convert the shells of old Macintosh computers into birdhouses.

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The hidden riches in cell phones and other electronic gear have been called green gold because they’re realized only through e-cycling programs. Large companies handle most of this, but some individuals want a slice of the pie too. These urban miners prize discarded electronics but also scour cities for scrap metal. This aboveground mining is usually aboveboard, but some underhanded individuals have taken to cutting down bronze statues, tearing down iron fences, and even stealing manhole covers, committing a crime known as materials theft. Consumers are getting hip to the recycling problems inherent in electronics and are starting to precycle, or choose gadgets based on how recyclable they are. Some manufacturers take responsibility for their products cradle to cradle, extending a product’s life cycle to include recycling it into something new. If the manufacturer also handles these recycling duties, it’s called an extended producer. Most such manufacturers also offer voluntary take-back programs, in which consumers can return end-oflife devices at no charge. Of course, you could also follow the lead of a nut-orchard owner in Australia, who wanted to attract birds that would eat pests. His solution?

Recycle Although recycling can be a good way to reuse the raw materials in a product, the hazardous chemicals in e-waste mean that electronics can harm workers in the recycling yards, as well as their neighbouring communities and environment. In developed countries, electronics recycling takes place in purpose-built recycling plants under controlled conditions. In many EU states for example, plastics from e-waste are not recycled to avoid brominated furans and dioxins being released into the atmosphere. In developing countries however, there are no such controls. Recycling is done by hand in scrap yards, often by children. Today the electronic waste recycling business is in all areas of the developed world a large and rapidly consolidating business.

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In 2 010 / 2, 16.8 millioncompu ter s r e ached their end o f li fe. O f thi s, onl y 9% w ill be r ec ycled. W hen e- was te i s sen t to landf ill poi sonous subs t ances c an le ach fr om decomposing w as te and in to the env ir onmen t. T hese subs t ances c an seep in to gr ound wa ter, con t amina te the soil and en ter the food chain.

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Electronic waste processing systems have matured in recent years, following increased regulatory, public, and commercial scrutiny, and a commensurate increase in entrepreneurial interest. Part of this evolution has involved greater diversion of electronic waste from energy-intensive downcycling processes (e.g., conventional recycling), where equipment is reverted to a raw material form. This diversion is achieved through reuse and refurbishing. The environmental and social benefits of reuse include diminished demand for new products and virgin raw materials (with their own environmental issues); larger quantities of pure water and electricity for associated manufacturing; less packaging per unit; availability of technology to wider swaths of society due to greater affordability of products; and diminished use of landfills. Audiovisual components, televisions, VCRs, stereo equipment, mobile phones, other handheld devices, and computer components contain valuable elements and substances suitable for reclamation, including lead, copper, and gold. One of the major challenges is recycling the printed circuit boards from the electronic wastes. The circuit boards contain such precious metals as gold, silver, platinum, etc. and such base metals as copper, iron, aluminum, etc. Conventional method employed is mechanical shredding and separation but the recycling efficiency is low. Alternative methods such as cryogenic decomposition have been studied for printed circuit board recycling , and some other methods are still under investigation. Gold recovery from e-waste recycling. One metric ton (t) of electronic scrap from personal computers (PCâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s) contains more gold than that recovered from 17 t of gold ore. In 1998, the amount of gold recovered from electronic scrap in the United States was equivalent to that recovered from more than 2 million metric tons (Mt) of gold ore and waste. To manufacture one computer and monitor, it takes 530 pounds of fossil fuels, 48 pounds of chemicals, and 1.5 tons of water.

> SOLUTION

[67]

Take electrical goods and scrap

such as copper wiring

to electronic recyclers.

8 ]] [[ 6 2

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> SOLUTION

Finally, the production of electric and electronic devices is a very resource intensive activity. The environmental burden due to the production of electrical and electronic products (“ecological baggage”) exceeds by far the one due to the production of other household materials. A UN study found that the manufacturing of a computer and its screen takes at least 240 kg (530 pounds) of fossil fuels, 22 kg (48 pounds) of chemicals and 1.5 tonnes of water more than the weight of a rhinoceros or a car (Kuehr and Williams, 2003).” Recycling aluminum uses saves 90% of energy of mining new aluminum. Recovering 10 kilograms of aluminum via recycling, for example, uses no more than 10% of the energy required for primary production, preventing the creation of 13 kilograms of bauxite residue, 20 kilograms of CO2, and 0.11 kilograms of sulphur dioxide emissions, and causes many other emissions and impacts.” A ton of used mobile phones, for example—or approximately 6,000 handsets (a tiny fraction of today’s 1 billion annual production) contains about 3.5 kilograms of silver, 340 grams of gold, 140 grams of palladium, and 130 kg of copper, according to StEP. The average mobile phone battery contains another 3.5 grams of copper. Combined value: over US $15,000 at today’s prices. When you add up the energy usage during the whole lifecycle of a computer with a 17 inch monitor, you find most is used during manufacturing, not using the computer: “In contrast with many home appliances, life cycle energy use of a computer is dominated by production (81%) as opposed to operation (19%).” There are no federal laws that require e-waste recycling by commercial entities or households. Also, as with e-waste disposal, there are few federal environmental regulatory requirements applicable to recycling operations themselves (including the export of e-waste for recycling or reuse). The term “recycler” broadly refers to a company that may engage in any of a number of activities including collecting, sorting, demanufacturing, or processing of waste.

> SOLUTION

[69]

Export E-waste is routinely exported by developed countries to developing ones, often in violation of the international law. Inspections of 18 European seaports in 2005 found as much as 47 percent of waste destined for export, including e-waste, was illegal. In the UK alone, at least 23,000 metric tonnes of undeclared or ‘grey’ market electronic waste was illegally shipped in 2003 to the Far East, India, Africa and China. In the US, it is estimated that 50-80 percent of the waste collected for recycling is being exported in this way. This practice is legal because the US has not ratified the Basel Convention. Mainland China tried to prevent this trade by banning the import of e-waste in 2000. However, we have discovered that the laws are not working; e-waste is still arriving in Guiya of Guangdong Province, the main centre of e-waste scrapping in China. We have also found a growing e-waste trade problem in India. 25,000 workers are employed at scrap yards in Delhi alone, where 10-20000 tonnes of e-waste is handled each year, 25 percent of this being computers. Other e-waste scrap yards have been found in Meerut, Ferozabad, Chennai, Bangalore and Mumbai. How did the trade evolve? In the 1990s, governments in the EU, Japan and some US states set up e-waste ‘recycling’ systems. But many countries did not have the capacity to deal with the sheer quantity of e-waste they generated or with its hazardous nature. Therefore, they began exporting the problem to developing countries where laws to protect workers and the environment are inadequate or not enforced. It is also cheaper to ‘recycle’ waste in developing countries; the cost of glass-toglass recycling of computer monitors in the US is ten times more than in China. Demand in Asia for electronic waste began to grow when scrap yards found they could extract valuable substances such as copper, iron, silicon, nickel and gold, during the recycling process. A mobile phone, for example, is 19 percent copper and eight percent iron.

25,0 0 0 wor ker s ar e emplo yed a t scr ap y ar ds in Delhi alone, w her e 10 2 0 0 0 0 tonne s o f e - w as te i s handled e ach ye ar, 25 per cen t o f thi s being compu ter s.

7 20 ]] [[ 6

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Mainland China tr ied to pr e ven t thi s tr ade b y b anning the impor t o f e- was te in 2 0 0 0.

> SOLUTION

Today’s AP story about the falseness of e-waste recycling is a little late, nevertheless it points out the important fact the electronics can’t really be recycled (much like other products), rather they’re burned and hacked apart to salvage what little precious metals they contain. the most important point of the article is that recycling of electronics—and everything in general—is about distance. the map above shows the probable paths of electronics waste: back to the developing countries where we manufacture and pollute. while it’s noble to return the materials to them, it points to the real motivation behind recycling: to eliminate waste from our lives by sending it so far away that we can almost never hear about it again.

Rou t e s of E-Wa s t e ex por t H ai t i Venez uel a

Uni t ed St a t e s

C hile A r gen t in a Mex ic o V ie t n am C hin a

Indi a

M alay si a Indone si a

Niger i a

Eg y p t Keny a Tanz ani a U k r aine

Eur ope an U nion

> SOLUTION

E-Waste is the Fastest Growing Part of the Waste Stream. Just like batteries, electronics seem safe to use, but if we throw them out, they can leak toxic chemicals like lead, mercury and cadmium into our water and air. One computer monitor can contain 4-8 pounds of lead, which if released can hurt an entire community. The problem has reached crisis level because of the sheer volume of electronic waste being created around the world everyday. There are 500 million obsolete computers in the U.S. alone. 130 million cell phones are disposed of annually. 20-24 million TVâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s and computers are stored annually in homes and offices. Only 10% of unwanted and obsolete computers are recycled. Up to 80% of E-waste from the U.S. is Exported to Impoverished Countries. We all want to recycle responsibly. However, consumers, institutions and businesses who take their e-waste to a recycling center might be surprised to discover that most is being shipped oversees where toxic components are either openly burned, soaked in acid baths and dumped into rivers, or piled into mountains of e-waste for scrap recovery. Impoverished workers, including children, smash leaded glass tubes, breathe lead solder fumes and melt plastics with toxic flame retardants. SVTC has worked with other organizations around the world in researching and exposing the worldwide destinations of our electronic waste. Citizens at Risk is a 2008 documentary by SVTC and Chintan Environmental Research and Action Group about the hazardous effects of e-waste on the health of the workers and the environments in areas like Delhi, India. The ultimate solution to this e-waste crisis is to design cleaner products that are less toxic, easily recycled and allow for repairs and upgrades. Electronics companies say that customer demand is the single most compelling driver for them to make changes in their products. se SVTCâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s electronics purchasing guide and computer report card to evaluate companies on their recycling policies, manufacturing processes and worker and environmental protections.

[71]

Inspec tions o f 18 Eur ope an se apor t s in 2 0 0 5 found as much as 47 per cen t o f w as te de s tined for ex por t , including ew as te, w as illegal.

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> SOLUTION

C o n s um e r aw a r e n e s s e ff o r t s AddressTheMess.com is a Comedy Central prosocial campaign that seeks to increase awareness of the dangers of electronic waste and to encourage recycling. Partners in the effort include Earth911.org, ECOInternational.com, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Many Comedy Central viewers are early adopters of new electronics, and produce a commensurate amount of waste that can be directed towards recycling efforts. The station is also taking steps to reduce its own environmental impact, in partnership with NativeEnergy.com, a company that specializes in renewable energy and carbon offsets. The Electronics TakeBack Coalition is a campaign aimed at protecting human health and limiting environmental effects where electronics are being produced, used, and discarded. The ETBC aims to place responsibility for disposal of technology products on electronic manufacturers and brand owners, primarily through community promotions and legal enforcement initiatives. It provides recommendations for consumer recycling and a list of recyclers judged environmentally responsible. The grassroots Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition (svtc.org) focuses on promoting human health and addresses environmental justice problems resulting from toxins in technologies. Basel Action Network (BAN.org) is uniquely focused on addressing global environmental injustices and economic inefficiency of global â&#x20AC;&#x153;toxic tradeâ&#x20AC;?. It works for human rights and the environment by preventing disproportionate dumping on a large scale. It promotes sustainable solutions and attempts to ban waste trade. Texas Campaign for the Environment (texasenvironment.org) works to build grassroots support for e-waste recycling and uses community organizing to pressure electronics manufacturers and elected officials to enact producer takeback recycling policies and commit to responsible recycling programs. The World Reuse, Repair, and Recycling Association (wr3a. org) is an organization dedicated to improving the quality of exported electronics.

> SOLUTION

Also, it is encouraging better recycling standards in importing countries, and improving practices through “Fair Trade” principles. Take Back My TV is a project of The Electronics TakeBack Coalition and grades television manufacturers to find out which are responsible and which are not. Broadly speaking, discarded e-waste has two potential fates—it may be disposed of (most likely in a landfill) or it may be recycled. Once the device is in the hands of the recycler, it may be resold and reused “as is” or it may undergo some degree of refurbishing. Products that cannot be reused or refurbished are either dismantled or shredded, with the resulting material separated into secondary material streams and at least partially recovered. The resale of electronic devices for reuse or material recovery may occur domestically or abroad. Regardless of whether an electronic device is disposed of or recycled, there are virtually no federal environmental regulatory requirements applicable to its management. Factors specific to e-waste that affect the lack of regulation are useful in understanding the challenges associated with addressing e-waste management issues. There are no federal laws that require e-waste recycling by commercial entities or households. Also, as with e-waste disposal, there are few federal environmental regulatory requirements applicable to recycling operations themselves (including the export of e-waste for recycling or reuse). The term “recycler” broadly refers to a company that may engage in any of a number of activities including collecting, sorting, demanufacturing, or processing of waste. E-waste recycling can be a labor-intensive process (see “Factors Influencing E-Waste Exporting,” below). Any federal regulation applicable to recycling operations would likely address human impacts associated with the disassembly process and apply to workplace health and safety operations. Any environmental regulations applicable to a recycling operation would likely apply to the management of residual waste generated during the recycling process.

[73]

T her e ar e 5 0 0 million ob sole te compu ter s in the U.S. alone. 13 0 million cell phones ar e di sposed o f annuall y. 2 4 million T V ’s and compu ter s ar e s tor ed annuall y in homes and o ff ice s. Onl y 10 % o f unwan ted and obsole te compu ter s ar e r ec ycled.

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> SOLUTION

W h e r e d o e s e -w a s t e e n d u p ? In developed countries, electronic waste processing usually first involves dismantling the equipment into various parts (metal frames, power supplies, circuit boards, plastics), often by hand. The advantages of this process are the human’s ability to recognize and save working and repairable parts, including chips, transistors, RAM, etc. The disadvantage is that the labor is often cheapest in countries with the lowest health and safety standards. In an alternative bulk system, a hopper conveys material for shredding into a sophisticated mechanical separator, with screening and granulating machines to separate constituent metal and plastic fractions, which are sold to smelters or plastics recyclers. Such recycling machinery is enclosed and employs a dust collection system. Most of the emissions are caught by scrubbers and screens. Magnets, eddy currents, and trommel screens are employed to separate glass, plastic, and ferrous and nonferrous metals, which can then be further separated at a smelter. Leaded glass from CRTs is reused in car batteries, ammunition, and lead wheel weights, or sold to foundries as a fluxing agent in processing raw lead ore. Copper, gold, palladium, silver, and tin are valuable metals sold to smelters for recycling. Hazardous smoke and gases are captured, contained, and treated to mitigate environmental threat. These methods allow for safe reclamation of all valuable computer construction materials. Hewlett-Packard product recycling solutions manager Renee St. Denis describes its process as: “We move them through giant shredders about 30 feet tall and it shreds everything into pieces about the size of a quarter. Once your disk drive is shredded into pieces about this big, it’s hard to get the data off.” An ideal electronic waste recycling plant combines dismantling for component recovery with increased cost-effective processing of bulk electronic waste. Reuse is an option to recycling because it extends the lifespan of a device.

> SOLUTION

Devices still need eventual recycling, but by allowing others to purchase used electronics, recycling can be postponed and value gained from device use. In the 1990s, governments in the EU, Japan and some US states set up e-waste ‘recycling’ systems. But many countries did not have the capacity to deal with the sheer quantity of e-waste they generated or with its hazardous nature. Therefore, they began exporting the problem to developing countries where laws to protect workers and the environment are inadequate or not enforced. It is also cheaper to ‘recycle’ waste in developing countries; the cost of glass-toglass recycling of computer monitors in the US is ten times more than in China. Demand in Asia for electronic waste began to grow when scrap yards found they could extract valuable substances such as copper, iron, silicon, nickel and gold, during the recycling process. A mobile phone, for example, is 19 percent copper and eight percent iron.

W h at c a n I d o w i t h my E -W a s t e ? If you have electronics that are still usable, list them on LACoMAX, the Countywide online materials exchange. You can also contact your City’s recycling coordinator to see if a program may be available to you where you live. If your electronics are no longer usable, take a look at our schedule to find the next HHW/E-Waste Roundup near you. You may also utilize a permanent collection center or a collection event operated by the City of LA. You may also call your city for any special programs or collection events that they may be holding in your area. The ultimate solution to this e-waste crisis is to design cleaner products that are less toxic, easily recycled and allow for repairs and upgrades. Electronics companies say that customer demand is the single most compelling driver for them to make changes in their products. Recycle Your Electronics Responsibly: Use SVTC’s consumer guide to recycling to find out how you can properly dispose of your old electronics and support safe local solutions to this growing problem.

[75]

Texas C amp aign for the Env ir onmen t (texasenv ir onmen t. or g) wor ks to build gr as sr oo t s suppor t for e - w as te r ec ycling and uses communi t y or ganizing to pr es sur e elec tr onic s m anufac t ur er s and elec ted o ff ici als to enac t pr oducer t akeb ack r ec ycling policie s and commi t to r esponsible r ec ycling pr o gr ams.

7 26 ]] [[ 6

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> SOLUTION

W h a t c an y ou do t o f igh t ag ain s t t he E-Wa s t e c r isis?

Silicon Valle y Tox ic s Co ali tion i s a di ver se nonpr o f i t or gani z a tion engaged in r ese ar ch, ad voc ac y and gr as sr oo t s or ganizing to pr omo te human he al th and env ir onmen t al j us tice in r esponse to the r apid gr o w th o f the high-tech indus tr y.

1. Mak e S o c i a l ly R es p o n s ibl e P urc h a s es: U se S V TCâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s elec t r onic s pur c h a sing guide and c om pu t er r epor t c ar d t o e v alu a t e c omp anie s on t heir r ec y c ling policie s, m anu fac t ur ing pr oc e s se s and w or ker and en v ir onmen t al pr o t ec t ion s. 2. R ec y c l e Y o u r El ec t ro nic s R es p o n s ibly: U se S V TCâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s c on s umer guide t o r ec y c ling t o f ind ou t ho w y ou c an pr oper l y di spo se of y our elec t r onic s and suppor t local solutions to this gr owing pr oblem. 3. S upp o r t Law s t o Mak e C o mpa nies R es p on s ibl e fo r t heir T ox ic T r a s h: You c an s uppor t legisla t ion ac r o s s t he c oun t r y t h a t help s alle v i a t e t he bur den s of e -w a s t e on c ommuni t ie s b y r equir ing elec t r onic s m anu fac t ur er s t o p ay for and m an age elec t r onic r ec y c ling pr ogr am s.

> SOLUTION

[77]

Just about any place in the U.S. has sponsored an electronics collection event, and many states are now trying to solve the complex e-waste puzzle. Policies have come out banning most electronic products from landfills, others have put a consumer tax on electronic products for the cost of their disposal and others require electronics companies to pay for recycling. Washington and Maine have recently passed the most extensive e-waste bills in the country.

We all have old electronics stored in our basements or closets waiting for the day we can easily recycle them. One can spend all day figuring out where to take e-waste, and once a recycling center is found, there is no guarantee that it will be safely recycled. Up to 80% of U.S. e-waste is exported to developing countries where toxic components are burned, dumped or smashed apart by impoverished workers and children without proper protection or sent to U.S. prisons where inmates work without federally protected health, safety or labor rights. Only 10% of unwanted and obsolete computers are recycled responsibly. 1st Step: Send your old equipment back to the electronics companies. Because of consumer demand, electronics companies are slowly but surely offering to recycle their old products. Before buying a computer, you may want to look into which companies offer take-back. Dell, for instance, will take back any computer (regardless of the maker) when you buy a Dell. 2nd Step: Pick from SVTCâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s List of Responsible Recyclers. There are a growing number of recyclers who have signed a pledge to end the practice of shipping e-waste to prisons or developing countries and who are creating clean, local solutions to the e-waste problem. Both the Basel Action Network and Electronics TakeBack Campaign have been part of creating this list for use by consumers and businesses alike.

We all wan t to r ec ycle r esponsibl y. Ho wever, consumer s, ins ti t u tions and busines s es w ho t ake their e - w as te to a r ec ycling cen ter migh t be sur pr i sed to di scover tha t mos t i s being shipped over see s w her e tox ic componen t s ar e ei ther openl y bur ned, so aked in acid b a ths and dumped in to r i ver s, or piled in to moun t ains o f e - w as te for scrap recovery.

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Apple and Dell have set up programs that enable consumers to return

> SOLUTION

yesterdayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s musthave electronics

[79]

8 20 ]] [[ 6

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> SOLUTION

Last Resort: Ensuring a Private Recycler is Responsible. If not on the SVTC approved list, question the recycler on issues listed on the responsible recyclerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s pledge. If you cannot get a direct answer, they are probably exporting. Beware of collection events and recycling fairs and ask if the recycler processes on site. If not, they are likely to export, contributing to the global e-waste crisis. Whatever you do, avoid throwing out electronics in the trash. This is illegal in many states.

P ro c e s s i n g t e c h n i qu e s In developed countries, electronic waste processing usually first involves dismantling the equipment into various parts (metal frames, power supplies, circuit boards, plastics), often by hand. The advantages of this process are the humanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ability to recognize and save working and repairable parts, including chips, transistors, RAM, etc. The disadvantage is that the labor is often cheapest in countries with the lowest health and safety standards. In an alternative bulk system, a hopper conveys material for shredding into a sophisticated mechanical separator, with screening and granulating machines to separate constituent metal and plastic fractions, which are sold to smelters or plastics recyclers. Such recycling machinery is enclosed and employs a dust collection system. Most of the emissions are caught by scrubbers and screens. Magnets, eddy currents, and trommel screens are employed to separate glass, plastic, and ferrous and nonferrous metals, which can then be further separated at a smelter. Leaded glass from CRTs is reused in car batteries, ammunition, and lead wheel weights, or sold to foundries as a fluxing agent in processing raw lead ore. Copper, gold, palladium, silver, and tin are valuable metals sold to smelters for recycling. Hazardous smoke and gases are captured, contained, and treated to mitigate environmental threat. These methods allow for safe reclamation of all valuable computer construction materials.

> SOLUTION

Hewlett-Packard product recycling solutions manager Renee St. Denis describes its process as: “We move them through giant shredders about 30 feet tall and it shreds everything into pieces about the size of a quarter. Once your disk drive is shredded into pieces about this big, it’s hard to get the data off.” An ideal electronic waste recycling plant combines dismantling for component recovery with increased cost-effective processing of bulk electronic waste. Reuse is an option to recycling because it extends the lifespan of a device. Devices still need eventual recycling, but by allowing others to purchase used electronics, recycling can be postponed and value gained from device use.

Ta k i n g i t B a c k Some companies have set up programs that enable consumers to return yesterday’s must have electronics. Apple and Dell are among the manufacturers with such a return policy, which may include the cost of shipping the obsolete items. In 2001, the Apple Recycles program began a takeback service for our customers in the US and Canada. This program has recycled over 90% (by weight) of all the electronic equipment collected. Apple’s commitment to being a responsible environmental citizen includes working to ensure that electronic equipment is properly disposed of at the end of its useful life. Apple’s free computer and iPod recycling programs in the US make it easy for consumers to help protect the environment. Apple customers in the US have several options for recycling their used iPods, systems, and displays. Apple has expanded its successful recycling program, offering free computer takeback and recycling with the purchase of a new Mac. US customers who buy a new Mac through the Apple Store or Apple’s retail stores will receive free shipping and environmentally friendly disposal of their old computer.

[81]

In 2 0 01, the A pple Rec ycle s pr ogr am began a t akeb ack ser v ice for our cus tomer s in the U S and C anada. T hi s pr ogr am has r ec ycled over 9 0 % (b y weigh t) o f all the elec tr onic equipmen t collec ted.

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Bec ause elec tr onic s ar e m ade w i th ne ar l y 1,0 0 0 chemic als and designed in such a w ay tha t the y ar e di ff icul t to t ake ap ar t , the y ar e ne ar l y impos sible to r ec ycle.

> SOLUTION

Recycling in the US and Canada US and Canadian customers who want to dispose of their used computers or monitors at any other time may also use Apple’s Recycling program by purchasing a prepaid shipping label and shipping your used computer or monitor to Apple’s recycling partner. To recycle old equipment, just purchase a prepaid shipping label from the Electronic Recycling Program, or call 888-638-2761. The $30 (US) fee covers all costs associated with shipping used products to the Apple recycling vendor. Packaging materials are provided, if needed. Since October 2002, Apple has partnered with the City of Cupertino—home of Apple’s worldwide headquarters—to develop an electronics recycling program. Through this program, the City’s residents can return their used or unwanted computer systems and selected home electronics (regardless of manufacturer) to Apple’s Cupertino recycling collection facility. The service is provided to residents free of charge. This recycling program is an outstanding example of business and local government working together to reduce the impact of electronic waste. It has been so successful that Apple and the City of Cupertino have signed an agreement to extend the program. Customers in Oklahoma and Texas may recycle their existing Apple desktop and laptop computers, monitors and accompanying keyboard and mouse for free. Fill out the request form to receive free shipping. Read more about the Oklahoma, Texas and Virginia Computer Equipment Recycling Program. Because electronics are made with nearly 1,000 chemicals and designed in such a way that they are difficult to take apart, they are nearly impossible to recycle. ust about any place in the U.S. has sponsored an electronics collection event, and many states are now trying to solve the complex e-waste puzzle. Policies have come out banning most electronic products from landfills, others have put a consumer tax on electronic products for the cost of their disposal and others require electronics companies to pay for recycling.

> SOLUTION

[83]

Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) is a policy that is being used in parts of the world such as Japan and Europe, which includes electronics, as well as many other products including cars!

EPR

requires electronics companies to take responsibility for the effects of their products; from the materials used to the production, to their disposal. EPR is a solution that pushes companies to eliminate toxins from their products and production facilities, take their products back after consumers are done with them and reuse the materials from their recycling. This protects workers and the environment through the entire life span of an electronic product. Some companies have already committed to an EPR approach and offer to take back your computers and others.

Some manufact ur er s alr e ad y r un P r oducer Take - B ack pr ogr ams in Jap an, Sou th Kor e a, Tai w an and mos t o f Eur ope, ye t the y ar e op posed to tha t s ame legi slation her e in the Uni ted St a te s.

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> IN D EX

[85]

INDEX terms + names >>

Agency 02 Alusiv 15

Favicons 06

America 45,56,77

Fili Louise 03

Amoco 44

Flab Bat 45 Ford 31

BAM 45

Gatto Phil 14

Brand 77

Gecko 77

Briefs 55

General Electric 64

Business 68,69

Gilmore James 41 Golden William 21

CDS 25 Case studies 15

Google 80

Hacker Chris 04

Center 15,18,20

Hall Carla 80

China 33,58,69

Harris Sylvia 11,49

Childern 54

Heller Steven 18

CNN 80

Herman Miller 10,16

Compass 61

Hine Thomas 13,14

Conseil 41

IBM 27,35,57

Daetoo 40

iMac 18

Dell 79

iPod 43

Deutsch 81

Gassaway Stella 18

Big idea 66

Carbon 33

Faberge 05 Fallon Worldeide 12

Beijing 35,46

Allstate 03

Jack 20

EPA 01,23,43

Jakeman Brad 50

E-Waste 01

Javed Naseem 48

Electroinc 12

Jay Hilary 14

Emblems 74 Environment 24 Ephemera 40

A- J

> IN D EX

E-W A S T E

8 26 ]] [[ 6

Kapner Lori 48

P Pagliarulo

Parkinson 23

Kia 25

Penn William 19 Penns Landing 53,64

Landor Walter 04

Perry Steve 43

Launch Plan 57

Peters Tom 05

Levy Paul 19

Philips 51

Lilly 43

Philips Robbin 22

Loewy Raymond 61

Pink Dan 81

Lufthansa 51

Pirtle Woody 23,56

Market 80

PNC 51

Masten Davis 48

PVC 55

Mau Bruce 80

Anne 65

Kay Alan 18

Q Quaker

Oats 27

Nabisco 27,43

Qualicon 52

Nelson Betty 53

Questions 80

Nickelodeon 30

QVC 79

Nierman 27 Nissan 25

R Raitt

Bonnie 46

Ogilvy David 14

Reddy Kilowatt 77

Olins Wally 05

Reed John 79

Online surveys 58 Orfala Paul 22

S Samsung

Sandoz Steve 25 Saturn 10 Scher /paula 73 Schnell Tres 34 Sellber Jerry 51

Telemundo 04 Teleworld 05 Toby Lerner 52

> IN D EX

U Ulrich

Bob 10

United 13 Unitel 52

V Value

Vanguard 26 Velfina 22 Verge 52 Viagra 15

W Wallace

Church 65

Walters Gary 47 Warner Bros 25 Water 39 Watsom Tom 25 Weill Sanford 51

X Xerox Y

Yang Choon 24 Young Suzanne 22 Young William 24

Zeekâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Pizzeria 58 Zoom 49 Zours 12

[87]

[6 2]

E-W A S T E

[6 2]

E-W A S T E

E- w a s t e Electronic waste (e-waste) is a term that is used loosely to refer to obsolete, broken, or irreparable electronic devices like televisions, computer central processing units (CPUs), computer monitorsn (flat screen and cathode ray tubes), laptops, printers, scanners, and associated wiring. E-waste has become a concern in the United States due to the high volumes in which it is generated, the hazardous constituents it often contains (such as lead, mercury, and chromium), and the lack of regulations applicable to its disposal or recycling.

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