Conservation 101: the Compete to Conserve Blog

E-waste, or electronic waste, consisting of old computers, cell phones, TVs, VCRs and other discarded electronic equipment, has become one of the largest sources of solid waste generated by our high-tech, consumer-driven society.

photo credit: bdunnette

The ever-growing pile of e-waste shows no signs of abating anytime soon. For while we covet the latest electronic equipment on the market, the minute we obtain that new computer or cell phone, it has already become obsolete, soon to be replaced by a newer, sleeker version already being developed. And, when the newer model hits the market, we “throw away” our old equipment and the process begins anew.

The problem with this seemingly endless cycle is that e-waste—which contains valuable metals such as silver and gold as well as toxic chemicals such as lead, mercury and cadmium—is difficult to dispose of efficiently and safely.

Currently, only about 20% of e-waste is recycled. The rest sits in storage and domestic landfills, or it gets shipped off to China, India and other developing nations in Asia and Western Africa where it’s disassembled—often in a very dangerous and crude manner—and its parts sold for scrap.

Efforts to stem the tide of this “noxious clutter” (as National Geographic writer Chris Carroll put it) include the 1989 Basel Convention, a 170 nation-accord mandating that nations must be informed of incoming shipments of hazardous e-waste. In response to criticism that the Basel Convention wasn’t stringent enough, the 1995 Basel Ban was instituted, forbidding shipments of hazardous e-waste entirely.

However, illegal shipments abroad continue. The 2002 documentary Exporting Harm: The High-Tech Trashing of Asia showed the harmful effects of e-waste dumping in places like the town of Guiyu in Guangdong Province in China. In Guiyu, both residents and the land tested positive for high levels of the toxic chemicals that leach into the ground and infiltrate the air once electronic equipment is dismantled. In his January 2008 National Geographic article, “High-Tech Trash,” Chris Carroll wrote of e-waste in Ghana being “flushed into the Atlantic” after it’s stripped of its valuable parts. And, in September of this year, a Government Accountability Office report, criticized the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for failing to prevent e-waste exports, particularly those of cathode-ray tubes (CRT) used in computer and TV screens, a responsibility allocated to the organization in January 2007.

Stressing the importance of accountability to combat the export and accumulation of e-waste, electronics manufacturers and governments (especially in Japan and Europe) have instituted “green design” and “take back” initiatives that not only restrict the amount of chemicals that go into electronic equipment to begin with but also promote responsible recycling by establishing e-waste collection points.

In the United States, where the infrastructure for “take back” and “green design” is not federally regulated or mandated, the responsibility for e-waste recycling rests with organizations like the EPA as noted above, as well as with state governments and individual companies.

In initiating and enforcing responsible e-waste recycling, the states of California and Massachusetts—who were the first to ban cathode ray tube monitors (CRT) from landfills—lead the way. Of course, many of the special e-waste recycling programs charge a fee, though a fairly nominal one. For example, in California, depending on the size of the computer or TV screen, the charge is about $6-$10.00.

Creative Solutions is one of a handful of U.S. companies who recycle electronics for a wide variety of “small, mid-size and Fortune 100 companies, government agencies, non-profit organizations, educational institutions and concerned citizens.” ReCellular, Inc., a Michigan-based reseller and recycler of mobile phones, sends its obsolete phones to Sims Recycling Solutions, an Australian firm with branches in the U.S., so that phones can be safely and efficiently recycled. Even the United States Postal Office is developing a free national collection program for small electronic items. The program was tested in select cities throughout the summer with the intention of implementing it nationwide this fall.

To find out more on how you can do your part to curb the e-waste cycle, see

Greenpeace “Guide to Greener Electronics”: http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/campaigns/toxics/hi-tech-highly-toxic/company-report-card

ERecycle.org—a “California partnership between government, manufacturers, retailers, and the environmental community”–offers a wealth of information about where and how Californians can recycle their electronics:

http://www.erecycle.org/search.asp

Earth 911 provides information on what items are recyclable and where they can be recycled:

http://earth911.org/electronics/

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