E-waste might be one of the biggest misnomers in the history of nomery -- the image it creates in the mind is of a bunch of email and document files clogging up your local internet pipes. The
reality of it is that electronic waste is rapidly populating ever-growing landfill areas in so-called developing countries (they're poor, just call a spade a spade) and the issue has now garnered the attention of the
United Nations. The UN Environment Programme has issued a wideranging report warning that e-waste in China and South Africa could double or even quadruple within the next decade, whereas India could experience a five-fold rise. Major hazards exist in the unregulated and informal recycling of circuit boards and techno gadgets, as processes like backyard incineration for the retrieval of gold generate toxic gases while also being wildly inefficient. The whole point of the report is to encourage some global cooperation in setting up modern and safe recycling facilities in the affected countries to ameliorate the problem, though being generally more careful in our consumption and
disposal of electronics wouldn't do the environment's chances any harm either.
posted February 23rd 2010 5:40AM
Space: the infinite garbage dump.
Let's just drop the junk into volcanoes! It will recycle itself!
If only someone cared about the UN...
E-waste is a misnomer? Since when? The only image I get in my head when I read/hear it is exactly of what it is: physical waste products as a result of discarded electronics.
What a waste of perfectly good CRTs.
CRT is still the king.
This is why we need cheap and efficient ways to launch things long-range into space.
I dream of the day when we can just launch all of our hazardous waste straight into the sun.
All the coasters in my house are recycled, laminated circuit boards. My (limited) experience in developing countries is that they let very little go to waste. I found a place online in the Western US that will actually pay you to ship them your old electronics. They employ handicapped folks to refurbish/dismantle old gadgets for reuse.
Dell banned e-waste some time ago and HP recently joined us in this effort. We hope more electronics manufacturers will join us in these efforts that would go beyond the call for global cooperation in setting up modern and safe recycling facilities in the affected countries to ameliorate the problem.
As you note, we can all play a role in this too by taking advantage of recycling programs. For example, Dell provides free recycling of our systems for consumers around the world.
Read more about how to recycle and e-waste here: http://bit.ly/ceqKme
@(Unverified) that unverified comment above is from me...for some reason it did not post even though I was signed in.