Trashed Tech: Where Do Old Cell Phones, TVs and PCs Go to Die?

Electronic waste is reaching critical mass, releasing toxic chemicals into the environment. The solution? Recycling and toxin-free electrical components

By Larry Greenemeier
Source Scientific American

Just to give you an idea of Americans' love affair with TV: they purchased 2.5 million new TV sets just to watch the 2007 Super Bowl, up from 1.7 million the previous January, says the National Retail Federation, based in Washington, D.C. The flurry of new flat-screen LCD and plasma televisions has raised concern about toxins used in their production as well as what will happen to the televisions being replaced. "We've really struggled with understanding what TV makers are doing about take-back," says Alexandra McPherson, project director for Clean Production Action (CPA), a Spring Brook, N.Y., nonprofit that promotes the use of products free of poisonous materials.

The EPA acknowledges that toxins in electronics are a problem, but says there's no need to panic–at least, not yet. "We all feel that it is not an environmental crisis," says Clare Lindsay, project director for the EPA Office of Solid Waste's extended product responsibility program. "The presence of some toxic materials does not create a crisis. We believe that landfills can safely manage most of these waste products. Is it the best idea? No, the better way is recycling. But we haven't seen any contamination of ground water associated with electronics discarded in landfills."

She says there has been "enormous progress'' over the past five years in raising consumer awareness about the benefits of recycling over simply junking unwanted electronics. Manufacturers are also beginning to understand that if they avoid using toxic materials, their products will be much easier to recycle or trash.

"Arguably, the responsibility for recycling is more at the front end of the manufacturing process than at the back-end disposal," Lindsay says. "Everyone recognizes that reusing, refurbishing and upgrading older electronics is better for the environment. Recycling is better than simply throwing something out, but reselling and refurbishing is even better."

One of the biggest problems with used computers, though, is that it is often cheaper to buy a new one with the latest software and technology than to refurbish an aging machine.

Less than 20 percent of electronic devices discarded between 2003 and 2005 were sent to recycling facilities; the rest were dumped and mostly ended up in landfills. In 2005 about 61 percent (107,500 tons) of cathode-ray tube (CRT) monitors and televisions collected for recycling were exported outside the U.S. for remanufacture or refurbishment, the EPA says. That same year, about 24,000 tons of CRT glass—which is filled with lead to protect viewers from the x-rays produced by the monitor—was sold to markets abroad to replace damaged CRTs in various countries, and North American waste and recycling companies recovered about 10,000 tons of lead (meaning it was not placed into landfills or incinerated).

An added benefit of recycling electronic materials—be they copper, lead or silicon—is that we will not have to mine as much from the earth, says Bob Dellinger, the EPA Office of Solid Waste's director of hazardous waste identification. "In essence, recycling stretches the raw materials we have available," he says. A lot of energy is wasted in the mining and refining of raw materials. For example, only 4 percent of copper ore is usable, the rest is waste.

Labels: environment