Business
Technology
Dr.
L. Roger Yin
Computer waste
and Global Issue
by
Kiarash Kaffishahsavar
Your
computer packs up and, rather than change its hard disc, you opt for a spanking
new model. An office replaces its outdated PCs with modern, more sophisticated
ones. Stop and think of how the old, discarded computers will be dealt with.
Will they end up in landfills as techno trash, poisoning the earth with heavy metals?
A
study says making the average PC requires 10 times the weight of the product in
chemicals and fossil fuels. Many of the
chemicals are toxic, while the uses of fossil fuels help contribute to global
warming.
And
the short lifetime of today's IT equipment leads to mountains of waste, the UN
University report says. That waste is
then dumped in landfill sites or recycled, often in poorly managed facilities
in developing countries, leading to significant health risks.
The authors say that
both manufacturers and computer users across the world should be given greater
incentives to upgrade or re-use computer hardware instead of discarding it.
As
computers become smaller and more energy-efficient, their environmental burden
might be expected to decrease - but the study suggests that the opposite is
happening. It found that manufacturing a
24kg PC with monitor needs at least 240kg of fossil fuels to provide the
energy, and 22kg of chemicals. Add to that, 1.5 tones of water, and your
desktop system has used up the weight of a sports utility vehicle in materials
before it even leaves the factory.
The
In
a scathing report entitled "Exporting Harm: The Techno-Trashing of
Asia," the groups document what they claim is the damage being done to the
land and people in Third World and Asian nations by the West's technological
waste.
Whereas
Western nations insist they are recycling their technology waste when shipping
it overseas, the report says the process is more akin to dumping, chronicling
the pile-up and contamination fueled by the export of hundred of thousands of
consumer goods and computer components.
The
global export of electronics waste, including consumer devices, computer
monitors and circuit boards, is creating environmental and health problems in
the third world, a report to be issued by five environmental organizations .
Reports say that 50 to 80 percent of electronics waste collected for recycling
in the
The
Environment Protection Agency said there were no precise estimates of the
amount of such waste currently created by the disposal of obsolete consumer
electronic and computing gear. Environment Protection Agency also cited
National Safety Council estimates that as many as 315 million computers have or
will become obsolete from 1997 to 2004, generating a wide range of potentially
toxic wastes.
For
example, each color computer monitor or television display contains an average
of four to eight pounds of lead, which can enter the environment when the
monitors are illegally disposed of in landfills.
An Environment Protection Agency. scientist, Robert Tonetti, acknowledged that a significant portion of the nation's obsolete consumer electronics gear was exported. He said, however, that there was no systematic reporting of the shipments, so there was no way to gauge the extent of the problem accurately.
Figures
in a 1999 National Safety Council report showed that about 723,000 computer
monitors had been recycled in the
There
is an international debate over how to deal with the problem, the European
Union was moving toward requiring manufacturers to take cradle-to-grave
responsibility for their products, particularly when they contain potentially
hazardous materials. In contrast, the
While
there is no consensus on a solution, the environmental groups had focused on
important issues that should have more attention. The cradle-to-grave approach
was not endorsed by the
In
The coalition claims that in the process, the people are exposed to lead, mercury, cadmium, and other toxins, which enter their bodies and the local environments, ruining their health, water supplies, and arable land.
Before 2004, as many as 315 million computers
will become obsolete due to changing technology, according to forecasts from
the National Safety Council. While the potential for waste is undeniable, no
one knows quite what to do with it, noted the Times magazine.
While
the European Union is moving toward cradle-to-grave corporate responsibility
for electronic recycling, the
The
electronic product recovery and recycling baseline report from the National
Safety Council, written back in 1999, reported the following:
"For the three
years between 1997 and 1999, it is estimated that some 50 million
In
addition, the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition states that the computer
equipment assembly includes a list of highly toxic chemicals such as
chlorinated and brominates substances, toxic gases, toxic metals, biologically
active materials, acids, plastics and plastic additives, in addition to lead
and mercury.
Computer
manufacturers need to develop an efficient collection program for the recovery
and recycling of hazardous electronic products and their disposal to protect
public health, worker safety and the environment.
All
electronic devices should be labeled according to a recyclable or disposable
process and maintained or funded by their manufacturers. Legislators should
call for a categorization of the e-waste impact and classify each electronic
element according to its hazard and how it should be recycled or disposed.
The
Natural Step organization has written about strategic plans that characterize
the concept of sustainability. Their models for identifying a problem
facilitate solutions by asking the following: Is it good for business, good for
society and good for the environment?
It
is time to rethink the process, with new ideas and without bias, of sustainable
business in
United
States Environmental Protection Agency and the California Department of Toxic
Substance Control are currently considering a new regulatory structure for
waste CRTs.
“Electronic
equipment is one of the largest known sources of heavy metals, toxic materials,
and organic pollutants in municipal trash waste” said Leslie Byster, a
spokeswoman for Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition, a nonprofit group in
An
estimated 30 million computers are thrown out, organic pollutants and all, in
the
An
electronic device that does not pose a health threat while sitting on a desk
can be a disaster at the dump. They aren't dangerous when they're intact, but
when computers get thrown into a landfill, they will get crushed, and toxins
find their way into the water table. That really causes problems.
The lead
in the cathode ray tube of a monitor is especially dangerous. While the
government has banned lead in paint and gasoline because it can cause brain
damage in children, there is still an average of five pounds of the metal in
each tube. Throw the lead from an estimated 300 million televisions that have
been sold in the
In
response to the environmental threat,
Recycling
is the obvious solution for keeping lead from landfills, but it is stymied by
economics. The money in computer recycling is already bad and, if the days of
the monitor are numbered, as Apple's Steve Jobs suggested, the market for
making old monitors into new may be as outdated as last year's computer.
If
sales are any indication, everyone wants flat screens now. Sales are expected
to increase by 50 percent in 2002, according to analysts. While the new
displays are lead-free, they aren't worry free.
When
Apple unveiled the new iMac desktop computer in January, people oohed and ahhed
over the new design. A flat screen bloomed out of a compact, domed base. It was
hailed a technological revolution. “This is the end of the cathode ray
tube," Steve Jobs, chief executive of Apple, said at the time, hinting
that the new flat screens would eclipse the boxy computer monitors that have
been the norm for decades. That is good news people worried about desk space,
but bad news for those worried about landfill space where all those old cathode
ray tubes are heading. Apple and its competitors unveil technological
revolutions like the new iMac so often that computers are obsolete within a few
years. The rapid pace of innovation poses a threat to public health as obsolete
equipment gets unplugged and thrown away.
The real solution to the electronic waste problem may be requiring computer companies such as Apple to take responsibility for the avalanche of innovations they generate. If producers have to take products back when customers finish with them, products might be designed to be upgraded or recycled more easily.
Electronics
already have to be taken back in countries around the world where landfill
space is tight. Computer-laden
A
law requiring
When
the inhabitants of Guiyu (a village in southeast
But
in the years that have passed those dreams have given way to a living
nightmare.
The Guiyu of today is
a village of contaminated waterways and polluted air; whose houses are covered
with thick layers of toxic ash and streets littered with huge piles of
poisonous waste.
Many of its
inhabitants suffer from respiratory illnesses, skin infections or stomach
diseases. Drinking water is so polluted that it has to be trucked in from a
town, 30 km away.
The reason Guiyu has
become a dumping ground for the
Into
the environment and find their way into water supplies. Some people wash
vegetables and dishes with the polluted water and they get skin problems.
Citing independent
studies, the report estimates that the
The
electronics industry is the world’s largest and fastest-growing manufacturing
industry and as a consequence of this growth, e-waste is the fastest-growing
waste stream in the industrialized world. Similar e-waste dumps and makeshift
recycling huts have been found in
In
America, up to 80 per cent of what the country terms ‘recyclable’ electronics
waste is sent to Asia and rather than trying to stop the practice, the US
government is actively encouraging it, the report claims. The
Though
the
The
Silicon Valley Manufacturing Group, a high-tech trade and policy organization
that counts computer giants Intel and Apple among its members, is aware of the
problem. But according to Margaret Bruce, the director of environmental program
group; it remains unclear whether it is manufacturers or consumers who should
take responsibility. Some would say that consumers bought it and should be
responsible for the waste.
Some
of
Just released
research, undertaken by
References
·
·
Computer e-waste is hazardous to our environment
http://www.thespartandaily.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2003/05/09/3ebc28446fba2
·
COMPUTER
JUNK IS GROWING
http://www.svtc.org/cleancc/pubs/sayno.htm#junk.htm
·
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/3541623.stm