E-Waste

**E-WASTE**

__**Introduction**__ Due to todays ongoing technological advancement many electronic products become obsolete very quickly, creating a large surplus of unwanted electronic products, or "e-waste." Disposing of e-waste in landfills has the potential to cause severe human and environmental health impacts.

Some of the materials in personal electronics, such as lead, mercury and cadmium, are hazardous and can release dangerous toxins into our air and water when burned or deposited in landfills improperly. And throwing away metal components, like the copper, gold, silver and palladium in cell phones and other electronics, leads to needless mining for new metals.  ** Interactive Toxic Computer. ** E-waste refers to any unwanted electronic device and is classified as universal waste. E-waste frequently contains hazardous materials, predominantly lead and mercury, and is produced by households, businesses, governments, and industries.

__** Problem Areas ** __ Rapid changes in technology, changes in media (tapes, software, MP3), falling prices and planned obsolescence have resulted in fast-growing surplus of electronic waste around the globe. Critics of trade in used electronics maintain that it is too easy for brokers calling themselves recyclers to export unscreened electronic waste to developing countries, such as China, India and parts of Africa, thus avoiding the expense of removing items like bad cathode ray tubes (the processing of which is expensive and difficult). The developing countries are becoming big dump yards of e-waste. Proponents of international trade point to the success of fair trade programs in other industries, where cooperation has led creation of sustainable jobs, and can bring affordable technology in countries where repair and reuse rates are higher.

__**E-Waste Management** __

For most of us, it’s been very confusing to figure out what to do with used electronics. Charitable programs, resellers, retailer and manufacturer take-back programs, and even free collection events have all popped up in the past decade in response to the well-publicized problems with recycling used electronics.

//Recycling-// Old computers and other electronic devices like TVs, radios, printers and fax machines pose a disposal dilemma. You can't just throw them in the garbage, because they contain components that are dangerous to the environment. But you don't want to hang on to them forever, either. Fortunately, most electronics manufacturers now offer a better solution: e-waste recycling services. [|Electronic Companies Take Action Article]

Audiovisual components, televisions,VCRs, stereo equipment, mobile phones ﻿, other handheld devices, and computer components contain valuable elements and substances suitable for reclamation, including lead, copper and gold. One of the major challenges is recycling the printed circuit boards from the electronic wastes. The circuit boards contain such precious metals as gold, silver, platinum, etc. and such base metals as copper, iron, aluminum, etc. Giving away or selling used electronics are great ways to extend their use and keep them out of landfills. Some services provide second-hand computers to schools or nonprofits.

Benefits of 'e-cycling'-


 * Conserves natural resources. Recycling recovers valuable materials from old electronics that can be used to make new products. As a result, we save energy, reduce pollution, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and save resources by extracting fewer raw materials from the earth.
 * <span style="color: #008080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal;">Protects your surroundings. Safe recycling of outdated electronics promotes sound management of toxic chemicals such as lead and mercury.
 * <span style="color: #008080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal;">Helps others. Donating your used electronics benefits your community by passing on ready-to-use or refurbished equipment to those who need it.
 * <span style="color: #008080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal;">Create Jobs. eCycling creates jobs for professional recyclers and refurbishers and creates new markets for the valuable components that are dismantled.
 * <span style="color: #008080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal;">Saves landfill space. E-waste is a growing waste stream. By recycling these items, landfill space is conserved.

//Awareness-// [|Basel Action Network (BAN]-(BAN.org) is uniquely focused on addressing global environmental injustices and economic inefficiency of global "toxic trade". It works for human rights and the environment by preventing disproportionate dumping on a large scale. It promotes sustainable solutions and attempts to ban waste trade. [|Addressthemess.com]- a <span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; color: #000000; text-decoration: none;">Comedy Central pro-social campaign that seeks to increase awareness of the dangers of electronic waste and to encourage recycling.

__**Links**__ [|Where does e-waste end up] Article: [|'Mountains' of e-waste threaten developing world] [|Costco Trade-in] [|Green Electronics]

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