Electronic Graveyards

From National Geographic:

Maybe your basement has a collection of dead electronics -- all those old CRTs, cell phones, laptops. Or maybe you've attempted to recycle them by giving them to charity. A few things might have been sneaked into that 'bulky waste pickup' that the city has each year. But I'm betting that you have no idea what happens to this stuff, even if you have tried to do the right thing. I sure didn't.

The January 2008 issue of National Geographic got ...well, graphic...in its expose of e-trash. It was chilling.

June is the wet season in Ghana, but here in Accra, the capital, the morning rain has ceased. As the sun heats the humid air, pillars of black smoke begin to rise above the vast Agbogbloshie Market. I follow one plume toward its source, past lettuce and plantain vendors, past stalls of used tires, and through a clanging scrap market where hunched men bash on old alternators and engine blocks. Soon the muddy track is flanked by piles of old TVs, gutted computer cases, and smashed monitors heaped ten feet (three meters) high. Beyond lies a field of fine ash speckled with glints of amber and green—the sharp broken bits of circuit boards. I can see now that the smoke issues not from one fire, but from many small blazes. Dozens of indistinct figures move among the acrid haze, some stirring flames with sticks, others carrying armfuls of brightly colored computer wire. Most are children.

Regardless of where you dispose of your e-junk, much of it generated in the U.S. ends up in undeveloped countries where poor families and their children attempt to salvage whatever might bring cash in the marketplace. Gold, copper, silver and other valuable metals are embedded in our junk. Getting it out releases toxins and carcinogens when the salvage operation is a low-tech fire tended by children and women. We don't see that though. We just line up to buy the latest gadget, mindless about what happens to the old one.

How vast is the problem? Estimates are 50 million tons a year, worldwide.

In the United States, it is estimated that more than 70 percent of discarded computers and monitors, and well over 80 percent of TVs, eventually end up in landfills, despite a growing number of state laws that prohibit dumping of e-waste, which may leak lead, mercury,
arsenic, cadmium, beryllium, and other toxics into the ground. Meanwhile, a staggering volume of unused electronic gear sits in storage—about 180 million TVs, desktop PCs, and other components as of 2005, according to the EPA. Even if this obsolete equipment remains in attics and basements indefinitely, never reaching a landfill, this solution has its own, indirect impact on the environment. In addition to toxics, e-waste contains goodly amounts of silver,gold, and other valuable metals that are highly efficient conductors of electricity. In theory, recycling gold from old computer motherboards is far more efficient and less environmentally destructive than ripping it from the earth, often by surface-mining that imperils pristine rain forests.

As always, the European Union is ahead of us. They've implemented regulation to encourage green design and take-back programs while also requiring manufacturers to implement recycling. While some of their trash slips through the current safety net, they are at least aggressively confronting the problem. In the U.S. though, the epicenter of the largest consumer society on the planet, we do nothing. The Congress hasn't ratified the Basel Convention, calling for stronger recycling and manufacturing oversight. Instead, we've lined up with Haiti and Afganistan in dragging our feet. Kyoto Treaty anyone? The EPA is pondering a certification program for recyclers, a market-based solution. Typical Bush/Republican preference for minimizing corporate responsibility.

On the other hand, there is a bright spot, however small. A company in Tampa, Creative Recycling Solutions, has made a big bet on electronics recycling. Their multi-million dollar plant is one of only 3 plants in the U.S. that can recapture usable materials from our tossed out gear. Currently, his operation isn't cost-effective, only moral. But if the U.S. implements certification and if states and municipalities move toward tighter standards, he's well-positioned to succeed.

In case you're thinking that none of this is your problem -- what happens in Ghana and China, stays there -- think again. A chemist at the University of Ohio decided to test jewelry made in China to see what was in it. Lo and behold, he found ... lead, high levels of it. The chemical fingerprint also showed that the lead was mixed with metals that likely came from electronic trash. Hmmm. What goes around, comes around. Wondering what else is in all those made-in-somewhere-else toys and things you're buying that no one has looked for yet?

So, what's a person to do? Throw up your hands and face defeat? Become a Luddite? Nah. There are some things to do.

• Before you drop off your junk on e-recycling day, find out where its going to end up. Don't assume it will be reused or recycled.
• Don't give your stuff to charities like Goodwill or Disabled Veterans. Despite their good intentions, e-trash given to charities often ends up overseas.
• Lobby your municipality or company to get a contract with a recycler like Creative Recycling Systems. They work with any size organization.
• Stop and think about whether or not you need the next generation of gadget. If you decide you do, make a plan for disposing of your old one before you acquire the new one. When HDTV becomes the standard by 2009, an estimated 25 million TVs will be affected. You're likely to own one of them. Figure out how to dump that obsolete one now.
• Raise awareness. Let friends and colleagues know what really happens to their old cell phone, TVs and computers. Kids are dying and pollutants are getting back into our own consumer goods because we choose to ignore the burden our consumption creates.
• An election is coming, remember? National candidates need to be reminded of the need to ensure the EPA implements that certification system. Lobby legislators to ratify the Basel Ban, which calls for green design and take-back programs.
• And remember, local solutions can have an impact. Get your city government to implement tougher standards for local recyclers. It'd be a start and help out guys like Joe Yob at Creative Recycling.

Face it. The reality is that if we are going to get serious about our e-trash, the manufacturers aren't the only ones who'll pay. The cost will find its way back into our next computer or cell phone. But the consequences of ignoring the problem are increasingly grim.