Electronic Waste (PubH 6101)

By Matt Deyo-Svendsen

Here are pictures of two different ways to recycle electronic waste. One takes a little thought. The other takes millions of years.

(Photo credits: Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition www.etoxics.org/site/PageServer?pagename=svtc_electronic_recycling)

The following is a brief discussion of various market forces affecting the lifespan of technology. A by-product of this increasingly disposable commodity affects people trapped in unstable economic conditions.

The Decreasing Lifespan -or- Planned Obsolescence

Hardware technology is constantly changing. According to Moore’s Law, the number of transistors on an inexpensive microchip has doubled every 18 months since the 1960s. As processing speeds increase, software applications can be developed that require more processing speeds and RAM. This includes the operating systems that link our hardware machines to our software applications. Not all of the added speed and power are conserved for applications. Operating systems have become so large that they simply cannot run on old machines. Now we have Windows Vista which won’t run on any machine. We have come a long way.

(Photo credit: Journal of Hazardous Materials)

New technology has been introduced to other parts of the computing machine outside of the motherboard. One clear example is the shift from CRT monitors to LCD monitors. The plot (above) is the shipments of new monitors in California alone (source: Journal of Hazardous Materials). CPU sales increase every year on the graph. Have the clever computer salesman found first-time consumers in the computer market? To some extent, yes. Yet many of these machines are merely replacements for unfashionable machines. Despite what the Microsoft sales rep will tell you, the word processor or game of Solitaire did not change in any major functionality on any year on this graph. The look and speed of the computer simply became unfashionable. Thus, many of these sales are mere replacements. The unfashionable computer is either reused, recycled or trashed.

The Breakdown of Trash (or the Lack Thereof)

(Photo credit: Wired.com http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2007/10/e-waste-poisons.html)

Source: http://ewasteguide.info/international_e_waste_generation

We will begin with the trashed components. The table above is an estimate for the number of tons per year generated by select industrialized nations in 2005. Some of the European countries include appliances in their totals (what do you do with an old dryer anyways?). These numbers are not terribly surprising, given Moore’s Law of cheap, faster microprocessors in one and a half years. These raw totals give us an idea of how much waste is generated annually, but is not a very good indicator of how much material could have been recycled.

To gain better insight into what can be recycled, consider the following breakdown of what makes up a computer:

Source: Osibanjo, Waste Management Research

Once a computer is produced, the specialized machine is difficult to return to its original forms. Many metals and plastics can be recycled, yet things such as pollutants are, well, pollution. Because computers are so specialized in their functionality, it is the duty of producers to ensure quality in the products they produce. One small faulty circuit can lead to the disposal of an entire system.

Reuse -or- Trickle-Down Technology

Other options exist for consumers once a piece of technology is deemed old. Unfashionable computers are often shipped to developing countries where technology sectors of the economy are smaller than more industrialized nations. Reused computers are a great resource for some of these countries.

The following map is a snapshot of technology traffic from a limited sample of internet retailers:


(Photo credit: GAO Report).

Some of these computers, monitors, cell phones and appliances will actually be put to good use. Yet some of these shipments include broken, burned, fried and damaged materials. These non-functional computers are only valued at the precious metals that can be stripped from their innards.

The Human Cost of Electronic Waste

This brings us back to the GAO report, mentioned in the previous section. As motherboards are broken for metal or wires are stripped for copper, damaging pollutants are exposed to the environment and whoever happens to be doing the destruction. “Items with cathode-ray tubes (CRT) are particularly harmful because they can contain 4 pounds of lead, a known toxin.� In such operations, the idea of providing proper equipment for the workers is often ignored, including tools and gloves. “In some cases, workers burn the plastic coating off wires to recover copper and submerge circuit boards in open acid baths to extract gold and other metals. Unsalvageable computer parts are often burned in the open air.� The irresponsible disassembly of technology will be discussed in further sections.

(Photo credit: Patralekha Chatterjee)
References:
Chatterjee, Patralekha. “Health costs of recycling .� BMJ. 16 august 2008. Volume 337.

“ELECTRONIC WASTE: EPA Needs to Better Control Harmful U.S. Exports through Stronger Enforcement and More Comprehensive Regulation�. GAO Report. August 2008. http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d081044.pdf

Kang, Hai-Yong; Julie M. Schoenung. “Estimation of future outflows and infrastructure needed to recycle personal computer systems in California.� Journal of Hazardous Materials. 2006. pp. 1165–1174.

O. Osibanjo and I.C. Nnorom. “The challenge of electronic waste (e-waste) management in developing countries.� Waste Management Research. 2007; 25; 489

Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition www.etoxics.org/site/PageServer?pagename=svtc_electronic_recycling

Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) and Federal Laboratories for Materials Testing and Research (Empa). http://ewasteguide.info/international_e_waste_generation

Wired.com http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2007/10/e-waste-poisons.html