E-waste and the Beauty of Recycling

I don’t have to tell you that electronics are almost inseparable from modern life in the developed world. The US Census estimates that over 75% of US households have a computer. And here in Australia, the Australian Bureau of Statistics estimates that over 80% of households have access to a computer. 

E-waste, otherwise known as electronic waste, is a general term to describe discarded electronic devices like tablets, cell phones, computers, laptops or televisions. And while it’s hard to know exactly how quickly we churn through our electronic devices, the Environmental Protection Agency (USA) estimates that 438 million new consumer electronics were sold in the US in 2009 alone, of which only 25% will be recycled. That means, around 75% of electronics (TVs, smart phones, computers, tablets, etc) go to landfill or are exported -- that’s around 328.5 million consumer electronics. Australian e-waste is growing at over three times the rate of general municipal waste, making it a significant waste management challenge. And the Australia Bureau of Statistics estimates that over 60% of computers will go to landfill each year (around 1.6 million personal computers), most of the remaining computers will stay in storage.

The concern? All electronics contain some form a toxic material. The most common materials include lead, cadmium, beryllium or flame retardants. Around 50-80% of US waste is exported to developing countries, 25% of which consists of e-waste materials. And in these developing countries recycling is often done by hand in scrap yards, exposing workers to these highly toxic materials (for more information, see this photo gallery of China’s Guiyu, “the electronic waste village”). And sometimes poor regulations lead to contaminent runoff into rivers and oceans.

Guiyu, China. Photograph by CHIEN-MIN CHUNG. Source: Time

Recycling electronic hardware not only reduces health and environmental risks, recycling electronics for their parts is also energetically efficient and beneficial. Electronics are made up of valuable (and easily recyclable) materials like metals, plastics and glass. (Check out the EPA's site for more information on the energetic benefits of recycling computers.) Unfortunately, many of the electronics we discard are still functional. While it is difficult to statistically monitor the number of fully functional electronics going to landfill, it is not hard to imagine that it happens world more often than not, especially in the developed world. I can’t even count the amount of times I (or my friends and family) have replaced a completely functional device for a newer one. At Education4Progress we understand the growing e-waste problem and we want to do all that we can to recycle as many functional computers as possible. If you know of anyone looking to replace their old electronics for new ones, we ask that you gently point them in our direction. We’d love to put their electronics to good use. Thank you for reading. Share the love :)

E-Waste Sources:

Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_waste
University of Arkansas: http://ecycle.uark.edu/ewaste_facts.php
EPA (USA): http://www.epa.gov/osw/conserve/materials/ecycling/docs/fullbaselinereport2011.pdf
EPA (USA): http://www.epa.gov/osw/conserve/materials/ecycling/pubs.htm
ABS: http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/DetailsPage/8146.02010-11?OpenDocument
ABS: http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Previousproducts/4613.0Media%20Release2006
US Census: http://www.census.gov/hhes/computer/publications/2010.html