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CBS2CHICAGO.COM - May 2004
High-Tech Trash
Antonio Mora
May 10, 2004 5:58 pm US/Central
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CHICAGO (CBS 2) Technology is advancing so quickly
that computers become out-of-date in just a couple of
years. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates
that there will be half a billion computers no longer
in use by 2007. But the days of throwing out old computers
and electronics with the garbage may soon be over.
Obsolete computers are only the tip of the growing
high-tech trash mountain. Millions of Americans are
replacing their televisions with new high-definition
sets, their VCRs with DVDs, their cell phones with camera
phones.
And lots of the old electronics are getting trashed.
The EPA estimates two million tons of electronics a
year end up in landfills -- that's equivalent to the
weight of some ten Sears Towers and everything in them!
But how dangerous is it?
Computers are especially toxic, filled with mercury,
cadmium, barium, flame retardants and worst of all,
lead.
"Each individual part of that electronic that we are
demanufacturing is recycled 100 percent,” said Brian
Brundage, CEP of Intercon Solutions.
And here's another reason to recycle: If you throw
out your computer with the garbage, it may end up in
Asia. Nearly 80 percent of U.S..-generated electronic
scrap is sent abroad. People in impoverished Asian countries
scavenge the waste for valuable materials, taking no
precautions, possibly absorbing deadly toxins. It is
dangerous and inefficient.
In this country two states are banning electronics
from landfills. Two others will force manufacturers
to take back their obsolete products. So far, there
has been no action in Illinois.
Eventually, we will all have to bear the cost of the
high-tech trash problem, probably by paying an up-front
disposal fee every time we buy electronics.
Finally, there's some good news from Chicago's Department
of Environment: The city will establish a year-round
permanent site for collection of electronics for recycling
and household hazardous waste this summer.
MORE INFO ON THE TOPIC OF E-WASTE:
US EPA Resource Conservation Challenge - Electronics
Recycling - http://epa.gov/epaoswer/osw/conserve/plugin/
ILLINOIS EPA
ILLINOIS DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE & ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY
(.pdf) - http://www.illinoisbiz.biz/com/pdf/RecycleElecs.pdf
The Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition Click on "New Release:
Poison PC's and Toxic TV's" and then scroll down to
"Useful Links" -- "What's in a Desktop Computer" and
click there, you'll get the full inventory of the computer's
components. - http://www.svtc.org/
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