Are you generating eWaste?
July 20th, 2010 by Michael Giuffrida
It is so un-”PC” to be wasteful in any way these days. We bring our own bags to the grocery store and turn down a bag if we have just a handful of items. We wash and separate our trash and even take the bus if we can to save harmful emissions into the air. So would it surprise you to know that despite all of your efforts, you are probably still being wasteful in ways that are putting lead and mercury into our landfills growing at a rate of 2-3 times that of other types of waste?
eWaste is being generated by all of us as we replace our cell phones, upgrade our computers and install 50″ flat screens in place of our old 19″ CRT televisions. With the rapid changes in technology, this is happening at a faster rate than ever before as we just have to have the latest gadgets (think – iPhone 4). According to sources on the Internet, an estimated 50 million tons of eWaste is produced each year. To make matters worse, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that only 15-20% of eWaste is recycled and the rest goes directly into landfills and incinerators.
While the problem sounds overwhelming, there are things you can do to help control the effects. Here are a few:
- Refurbish and Reuse – The old saying that one person’s trash is another person’s treasure certainly holds true here. Schools, non-profits, and organizations that ship refurbished goods to less privileged areas can take your “worthless” technology and help someone who is not able to have the latest and greatest. One partner we have worked with is mysbk.org.
- Recycle - Sometimes pieces of the equipment can be salvaged for the precious metals that it is composed of and the usable parts removed so the net eWaste effect is lessened.
- Dispose Properly – If a device can’t be reused or recycled, there are proper ways to dispose of them. Depending upon the device, some towns have special drop off days and others will take them at a dump or transfer station. There are even companies designed specifically to take this type of waste for a small fee. If you are going to use one of these be sure that they are a reputable operation who is not simply going to take the fee and then dispose of them improperly after you leave.
eWaste is a large and growing problem, but every little bit of controlling the issue can help. Think about that when you open up the box to your shiny new iPhone and are about toss your Motorola StarTAC into the kitchen trashcan.
Tags: computer recycling, crt monitor disposal, eWaste, old cell phone, recycling old computer, small business concerns, technology resource for small business
E_WASTE WARNING: Oh my. Yes you want to recycle or reuse your equipment BUT NO you do not want to just take it to any recycler as 80% of these simply export the device offshore to be dumped in Africa or China. Please go to our website e-Stewards.org to learn more and find recyclers that have committed to NOT do this.
What is wrong with sending to China? Don’t they need things? I don’t understand what is bad about that?
Karrie, the concern from a waste perspective is that the items may end up in a Chinese landfill. An additional concern from the IT security side is that sensitive data might be left on hard drives which are then sent overseas.
We recommend first having your technology resource confirm that the hard drive is erased using a utility that writes over the old files (simply deleting files is not secure) and to donate or recycle through reputable organizations to keep usable items out of landfills.
Mike – great post and good thoughts. E-waste is obviously a huge problem; you have to wonder where the 4 billion cell phones in use globally today (and the Lithium batteries within) are going to end up. Reuse/Refurbish is a good start, as you point out. There is an e-waste disposal center in West Hartford that people might not know about called Green Monster (http://greenmonsterecycling.com/) which I just used this past weekend. Free drop off of most items, TV’s cost $10. They certify no exports offshore.
Karrie – in addition to the material possibly ending up in Chinese landfill, which is bad enough, tons of it are actually sent to Chinese villages for “recycling”, which unfortunately involves desperatley poor workers picking the items apart by hand, and exposing themselves, their children, and the environment (soil, streams, rivers) to the lead, cadmium and mercury that make up most of the chip components. The workers do this because they might get to keep the tiny amounts of gold and copper they can extract, which can be traded for small amounts of cash. Here’s a news article with more detail: http://bit.ly/dfCbjN. It’s a horrendous situation that no American business owner would want to be associated with. Hence the importance of responsible e-cycling.
In reality we should be thinking further than just recycling. I recommend everyone, literally everyone, read the book “Cradle To Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things” by William McDonough. His approach to manufacturing, designing, building, and improving all things is the approach that should be taken. Instead of just recycling, or as I think of it “hand me downs”, we design things in a way that when it comes to the end of its useful life we can put it back in the supply chain and be able to reuse almost all if not all materials used in the creation of the item to than be used in the “new” item. Recycling, unfortunately, takes a high quality item, i.e. high grade plastic or metal in a car, and makes it reusable, BUT not reusable as another water bottle nor another car, but something that is of less quality and will not be able to be recycled again.
In the end recycling is delaying the item either being incinerated or put in a landfill, but doesn’t eliminate it. We should be focusing on how to eliminate these precious materials being put under ground and forgotten about until a later date.