TuttleJPDontWorry

=Don't Worry - E-Waste (Electronic Waste)=



Intro:
E-waste, short for "electronic waste," is a growing problem in modern society. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), e-waste "refers to electronic products that are discarded by consumers;" they give several examples, such as computers, video cameras, etc. Products often get discarded by customers, either due to breaking, or just from desire for an upgrade.

Why there's e-waste:
E-waste exists because of a mixture of issues. Modern consumer culture often entices people to want the latest and greatest technology, and consumers tend to often value lower prices over quality, not usually considering if a product will last for several years. Companies have realized this, and will often design products using materials that are only estimated to last a few years before breaking, a strategy referred to as "planned obsolescence." In some cases, devices are cheap enough that it's easier to just buy a new one, rather than to get it repaired; in other cases, they just aren't //designed// to be repaired -- very few replaceable parts, for example. In some cases -- the cell phone market, at least in the United States -- consumers are encouraged to buy new devices every two years, regardless of whether or not their old device still works, and the monthly fees are designed to subsidize the cost of new devices, even if the consumer does not choose to buy a new one, making it uneconomical to just keep using older devices or donate obsolete, but still working products to someone who could still use them and couldn't afford them otherwise.

Why e-waste is a problem:
A paper in the Environmental Impact Assessment Review, entitled //Global perspectives on e-waste//, explains that "[t]he use of electronic devices has proliferated in recent decades, and proportionately, the quantity of electronic devices, such as PCs, mobile telephones and entertainment electronics that are disposed of, is growing rapidly throughout the world." Thus, production of e-waste isn't going to stop anytime soon. The toxins from e-waste -- mercury in compact fluorescent light bulbs, lead in circuit boards, cadmium in NiCD batteries -- will often end up in landfills, where they eventually leak into nearby water supplies, contaminating the water and soil. The nature of technology -- the fact that it goes out of date rather quickly -- makes repairing older products not worth the money.

Stakeholders:
There are several stakeholders with regards to e-waste:
 * People living near landfills may have issues with their local water supply due to e-waste.
 * Customers, even if they're not affected, are usually forced to buy new products for various reasons -- increasing hardware requirements, file formats, etc.
 * Companies are also involved, as they are the ones manufacturing products, and could certainly be making higher-quality products or trying to make them greener.

Potential Solutions:
While individual consumers cannot really change the behavior of large corporations, then //can// vote with their money, and buy from companies that manufacture higher-quality products that last longer and are easier to repair. According to a paper in Resources, Conservation and Recycling, entitled //Exploring e-waste management systems in the United States,// several countries already have implemented programs to collect and recycle e-waste. The paper also describes a system using RFID tags that allows customers to return electronic items for recycling and get money back, similar to the current recycling systems for bottles and cans. Such a solution would certainly provide incentive for consumers to recycle their existing products; however, an ideal solution would involve the companies that manufacture the products in the first place ensuring that products can be used for longer periods, reused, and/or repaired easily.

Other Resources:

 * [|California Department of Toxic Substances Control' page about e-waste]
 * [|California's CalRecycle program's page on e-waste]
 * [|EPA's page on e-waste]
 * [|EWC Recyclers, a company that does e-waste recycling.] Has useful information and links to other sites.

Academic Papers:

 * Kahhat, Ramzy; Kim, Junbeum; Xu, Ming; Allenby, Braden; Williams, Eric; Zhang, Peng. //Exploring e-waste management systems in the United States.// Resources, Conservation and Recycling. Volume 52, Issue 7, May 2008, Pages 955-964.
 * Widmera, Rolf; Oswald-Krapfa, Heidi; Sinha-Khetriwalb, Deepali; Schnellmannc, Max; Böni, Heinz. //Global perspectives on e-waste.// Environmental Impact Assessment Review. Volume 25, Issue 5, July 2005, Pages 436-458.

Collage Image Sources:

 * Pie chart: http://www.sciencedirect.com/cache/MiamiImageURL/1-s2.0-S0195925505000466-gr1.jpg/0?wchp=dGLzVlS-zSkzV (from //Global perspectives on e-waste//, if link doesn't work. See above for citation.)
 * Background waste: http://blog.lib.umn.edu/enge/ewaste/345897594_dcbca0d8ec_b.jpg
 * Background waste: http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_QKzgbQ8WGAo/TOmNB4i1Y-I/AAAAAAAAABs/bH0APO77fCU/s1600/e-waste.jpg
 * Bulldozer with waste: http://inhabitat.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2010/04/landfill.jpg
 * Waste next to bulldozer: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/30/Ewaste-pile.jpg