Problems with E-Waste Recycling
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originally posted at:
http://www.computertakeback.com/the_problem/index.cfm
(ORIGINAL SOURCE HAS LINKS TO MORE DETAILS)



The Problem


The problem of outdated, unwanted electronics is huge -- and growing still.

In the US, we scrap about 400 million units per year of consumer electronics, according to recycling industry experts. Discarded computers, monitors, televisions, and other consumer electronics (so called e-waste) are the fastest growing portion of our waste stream -- growing by almost 8% from 2004 to 2005, even though our overall municipal waste stream volume is declining, according to the EPA.

Rapid advances in technology mean that electronic products are becoming obsolete more quickly. This, coupled with explosive sales in consumer electronics, means that more products are being disposed of, finding their way into landfills and incinerators. To make matters worse, the FCC mandated transition to digital television (like HDTV) in February 2009, will only speed up the pace, as consumers will soon be dumping large numbers of old TVs that can't receive the new digital-only signals.

Discarded computers and electronics are toxic hazardous waste.
Monitors and televisions made with tubes (not flat panels) have between 4 and 8 pounds of lead in them. Most of the flat panel monitors and TV's contain less lead, but more mercury, from their mercury lamps. About 40% of the heavy metals, including lead, mercury and cadmium, in landfills come from electronic equipment discards. The health effects of lead are well known; just 1/70th of a teaspoon of mercury can contaminate 20 acres of a lake, making the fish unfit to eat.

Recycling computers isn't like recycling old cardboard.
The EPA estimates that in 2005, the US generated 2.63 million TONS of e-waste. But only 12.5% of that was collected for recycling. The other 87.5% went to landfills and incinerators, despite the fact that hazardous chemicals in them can leach out of landfills into groundwater and streams, or that burning the plastics in electronics can emit dioxin.

These numbers don't include the millions of stockpiled computers, monitors and TV - which are stored in basements, garages, offices, closets and homes awaiting a decision.

Industry Plagued by "Sham" Recycling
And what about the 12% that are supposedly recycled? Some discarded equipment is handled by firms that operate under strict environmental controls and high worker safety protections. But many other firms do not operate under strict controls, or act responsibly. They remove the valuable metals from the equipment and send the remaining scrap to landfills or incinerators. Without adequate protections, workers dismantling discarded electronic equipment are exposed to many chemical compounds with known and suspected negative health effects.

50 to 80% Exported
Considerably more equipment -- one estimate sets the figure as high as 50 to 80% of e-waste that is collected for recycling-- is shipped overseas for dismantling under horrific conditions, poisoning the people, land, air, and water in China, other Asian nations, and possibly Mexico as well.

Prison Recycling
Electronic recycling operations are increasingly active within America's prison systems. Inmate laborers are not automatically afforded the same degree of worker health and safety protections as are people employed on the outside, nor are they paid comparable wages. Moreover, reliance on high tech chain gangs may frustrate development of the free market infrastructure necessary to safely manage our mountains of e-waste. Prisons are also taxpayer-supported institutions.

Corporate practice and public policy have failed to address the problems. At present, the cost of managing discarded computers and electronics falls on taxpayers and local governments. Local governments, private agencies, and individual consumers have been handed the most responsibility for responding to the e-waste crisis, but have the least power to compel manufacturers to do anything about it. Brand owners and manufacturers in the U.S. have dodged their responsibility for management of products at the end of their useful life, while public policy has failed to promote producer take back, clean design, and clean production. Taxpayers are paying dearly for the consequences of manufacturing choices they did not make and over which they have little control.