Research Project: E-Waste 1. What are the environmental issues associated with e-waste?
E-Waste (electronic or electrical) is generated from any equipment (running on electricity or a battery) that isdiscarded by the original user (still in working or non-working condition).
The processes of dismantling and disposing of electronic waste in the third world lead to a number of environmental impacts as illustrated in the graphic. Liquid and atmospheric releases end up in bodies of water, groundwater, soil, and air and therefore in land and sea animals – both domesticated and wild, in crops eaten by both animals and human, and in drinking water.
One study of environmental effects in Guiyu, China found the following:

* Airborne dioxins – one type found at 100 times levels previously measured * Levels of carcinogens in duck ponds and rice paddies exceeded international standards for agricultural areas and cadmium, copper, nickel, and lead levels in rice paddies were above international standards * Heavy metals found in road dust – lead over 300 times that of a control village’s road dust and copper over 100 times
The environmental impact of the processing of different electronic waste components: E-Waste Component | Process Used | Potential Environmental Hazard | Cathode ray tubes (used in TVs, computer monitors, ATM, video cameras, and more) | Breaking and removal of yoke, then dumping | Lead, barium and other heavy metals leaching into the ground water and release of toxic phosphor | Printed circuit board (image behind table - a thin plate on which chips and other electronic components are placed) | De-soldering and removal of computer chips; open burning and acid baths to remove final metals after chips are removed. | Air emissions as well as discharge into rivers of glass dust, tin, lead, brominated dioxin, beryllium cadmium, and mercury | Chips and other gold plated components | Chemical stripping using nitric and hydrochloric acid and burning of chips | Hydrocarbons, heavy metals, brominated substances discharged directly into rivers acidifying fish and flora. Tin and lead contamination of surface and groundwater. Air emissions of brominated dioxins, heavy metals and hydrocarbons | Plastics from printers, keyboards, monitors, etc. | Shredding and low temp melting to be reused | Emissions of brominated dioxins, heavy metals and hydrocarbons | Computer wires | Open burning and stripping to remove copper | Hydrocarbon ashes released into air, water and soil. |

2. Which countries produce the most e-waste?
The United States produces the most e-waste at 3 million tonnes annually. China is second, producing 2.3 million tonnes (excludes imported e-waste). It is expected that the sales of electronic products in China, India, and other countries in Africa and Latin America will increase in the next 10 years causing an increase in e-waste production in those countries, causing concern for public health and the environment. 3. What are the human hazards associated with e-waste?
With the usage of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) on the rise, the amount of electrical and electronic waste (e-waste) produced each day is equally growing enormously around the globe. Recycling of valuable elements contained in e-waste such as copper and gold has become a source of income mostly in the informal sector of developing or emerging industrialized countries. However, primitive recycling techniques such as burning cables for retaining the inherent copper expose both adult and child workers as well as their families to a range of hazardous substances. E-waste-connected health risks may result from direct contact with harmful materials such as lead, cadmium, chromium, brominated flame retardants or polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), from inhalation of toxic fumes, as well as from accumulation of chemicals in soil, water and food. In addition to its hazardous components, being processed, e-waste can give rise to a number of toxic by-products likely to affect human health. Furthermore, recycling activities such as dismantling of electrical equipment may potentially bear an increased risk of injury.

Children are especially vulnerable to the health risks that may result from e-waste exposure and, therefore, need more specific protection. As they are still growing, children’s intake of air, water and food in proportion to their weight is significantly increased compared to adults, - and with that, the risk of hazardous chemical absorption. Furthermore, their bodies’ functional systems such as the central nervous, immune, reproductive and digestive system are still developing and exposure to toxic substances, by hampering further development, may cause irreversible damage. Many children are exposed to e-waste-derived chemicals in their daily life due to unsafe recycling activities that are often conducted at their home- either by family members or by the children themselves. Furthermore, children may be exposed through dump sites located close to their homes, schools and play areas. 4. What are countries around the world doing to reduce e-waste?

Electronic waste is a significant part of today's global, post-consumer waste stream. Efforts are being made to recycle and reduce this waste. The Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal, usually known simply as the Basel Convention, is an international treaty that was designed to reduce the movements of hazardous waste between nations, and specifically to prevent transfer of hazardous waste from developed to less developed countries. The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) tends to support the repair and recycling trade. Mining to produce the same metals, to meet demand for finished products in the west, also occurs in the same countries, and UNCTAD has recommended that restrictions against recycling exports be balanced against the environmental costs of recovering those materials from mining. Hard rock mining produces 45% of all toxins produced by all industries in the United States.

The e-Waste Association of South Africa (eWASA) was established in 2008 to manage the establishment of a sustainable environmentally sound e-waste management system for the country. Since then the non-profit organization has been working with manufacturers, vendors and distributors of electronic and electrical goods and e-waste handlers (including re-furbishers, dismantlers and recyclers) to manage e-waste effectively.

In 1970, Japan began treating the waste of electronic materials differently from other materials. They hired specially trained workers to dismantle and recycle the electronic material. Unfortunately, the cost of the program was too high to keep the workers employed. Instead, electronic waste was disposed of like all other waste and placed in a landfill. Waste landfills can become a problem for any country, including Japan. Two laws have come in effect in Japan to alleviate the landfill and electronic waste problems. The first law was most recently revised in 2001, called the Law for the Promotion of Effective Utilization of Resources (LPUR). This law encourages manufacturers to voluntarily help recycle goods and reduce the generation of the waste. The second law became effective on April 1, 2009, called the Law for the Recycling of Specified Kinds of Home Appliances (LRHA). This law imposes more requirements on the recycling efforts of both consumers and manufacturers of home appliances. In October, 2003, taxes were imposed on any computer purchased after that date. If a computer was purchased before that date, those wanting to recycle their computer would pay a nominal fee to keep up with recycling costs. The utilization of electronic waste resources is around 50% currently and is growing. The LRHA states that consumers are responsible for the cost of recycling most home appliances. This includes transportation costs and recycling fees. The consumers pay the retailers to pick up the waste. They then recycle it and the consumers pay the related fees. In order to make the system more balanced, if a consumer asks a retailer to take the used home appliance for any reason (most likely because they purchased a new appliance), the retailer is obligated to pick it up. The retailers usually take it back to the manufacturer. The manufacturer is required to have a system in place to recycle the electronic waste, and this system must also maintain a certain percentage of utilization from these resources. Part of this process is not regulated by the government, and that is the process of acquiring a recycling facility and/or how the recycling is currently done. Manufacturers can hire anyone they want to build the facility and they can also recycle electronic waste in any way they deem fit. The only thing it must maintain is the amount of utilization from each material that comes into the facility. The manufacturers often want to recycle the products in the cheapest way possible and this leaves a lot of room for improvement.

Some European countries implemented laws prohibiting the disposal of electronic waste in landfills in the 1990s. "This created an e-waste processing industry in Europe.”

In Switzerland, the first electronic waste recycling system was implemented in 1991, beginning with collection of old refrigerators. Over the years, all other electric and electronic devices were gradually been included in the system. Legislation followed in 1998, and since January 2005 it has been possible to return all electronic waste to the sales points and other collection points free of charge. There are two established producer responsibility organizations: SWICO, mainly handling information, communication, and organization technology, and SENS, responsible for electrical appliances. The total amount of recycled electronic waste exceeds 10 kg per capita per year.

Additionally, the European Union has implemented several directives and regulations that place the responsibility for “recovery, reuse and recycling” on the manufacturer.The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive (WEEE Directive), as it is often referred to, has now been transposed in national laws in all member countries of the European Union. It was designed to make equipment manufacturers financially or physically responsible for their equipment at the end of its life, under a policy known as Extended producer responsibility (EPR). "Users of electrical and electronic equipment from private households should have the possibility of returning WEEE at least free of charge", and manufacturers must dispose of it in an environmentally friendly manner, by ecological disposal, reuse, or refurbishment. EPR is seen as a useful policy as it internalizes the end-of-life costs and provided a competitive incentive for companies to design equipment with fewer costs and liabilities when it reached its end of life.However, the application of the WEEE Directive has been criticized for implementing the EPR concept in a collective manner, and thereby losing the competitive incentive of individual manufacturers to be rewarded for their green design. Since August 13, 2005, electronics manufacturers have become financially responsible for compliance to the WEEE Directive. Under the directive, each country recycles at least 4 kg of electronic waste per capita per year. Furthermore, the Directive should “decrease e-waste and e-waste exports”. In December 2008 a draft revision to the Directive proposed a market-based goal of 65%, which is 22 kg per capita in the case of the United Kingdom.A decision on the proposed revisions could result in a new WEEE Directive by 2012.

The Directive on the Restriction of the Use of Certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment (2002/95/EC),commonly referred to as the Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive (RoHS Directive), was also adopted in February 2003 by the European Union. The RoHS Directive took effect on July 1, 2006, and is required to be enforced and become law in each member state. This directive restricts the use of six hazardous materials in the manufacture of various types of electronic and electrical equipment.The Battery Directive enacted in 2006 regulates the manufacture, disposal and trade of batteries in the European Union.

Electronic waste in China is a serious environmental issue. The amount of electronic waste (e-waste) is increasing due to rising economies like China and India and a higher demand of electronic devices combined with a shorter economic lifespan in the Western world. Though e-waste from the Western world is responsible for a large portion of the e-waste, the biggest threat comes from other regions in the world like India, Thailand, and China itself. Roughly 70% of global e-waste ends up in China. As a result, China has to deal with the environmental damage and health problems related to the increasing number of e-waste. Most of these problems arise from the fact that 60% of the e-waste is processed in informal recycling centres by unskilled ill-equipped manual labour. hina in 2011 was the world's second largest producer of electronic waste and produced 2.3 million tones. The amount is expected to increase as the Chinese economy grows. Large amounts of foreign electronic waste are also imported. Disposal of electronic waste can create jobs and recycle valuable metals but also harm humans and the environment by releasing pollutants. Legislation banning importation and requiring proper disposal of indigenous waste as well as a governmental subsides for proper disposal have recently been introduced but have been criticized as insufficient and susceptible to fraud. There have been local successes, such as the city of Tianjin where 38,000 tonnes were disposed of properly in 2010, but much electronic waste is improperly handled.

The Chinese government has taken actions as well. Initially there was a complete ban on improper recycling but this was quickly dropped. They have now issued a variety of environmental laws, regulations, standards, technical guidance and norms related to electronic product production and e-waste management. Nevertheless, laws and regulations put in place by the Chinese government lack of adequate resources to enforce them. Moreover, the financial windfall associated with e-waste makes these laws and regulations weak. In 2008, The Chinese State Council also approved a "draft regulation on the management of electronic waste." This regulation is intended to promote the continued use of resources through recycling and to monitor the end-of-life treatment of electronics. Under the new regulations, recycling of electronics by the consumer is mandated. It also requires the recycling of unnecessary materials discarded in the manufacturing process. The Management Regulations for Recycling and Disposing of Consumer Electronics and Electronic Waste, intended to be effective January 1, 2011, bans import of toxic e-waste, requires treatment of e-wastes to have license, and treatment plants to treat pollution. One of the most successful policies is probably the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR). EPR makes manufacturers responsible for electronics collection and recycling. Therefore, the producer is more involved in the life cycle of a product.

Another project is the "Home Appliance Old for New Rebate Program", which was first launched in nine cities and provinces who are considered as economically developed regions. It is a recycling system, where only accredited collectors who usually work in the retail industry can collect and take back old appliances from consumers and reward these actions with discount coupons. Since only authorized collectors were participating in the process, it gives the possibility to pay the consumers a higher price for their e-waste.

Reference:
Frazzoli, C. &. (2010). Diagnostic health risk assessment of electronic waste on the general population in developing countries’ scenarios. Environmental Impact Assessment Review , 388-39
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