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Box 19 E-waste
Robin Tennant-Wood
‘E-waste’, or electronic waste, is toxic waste and is a serious problem worldwide.
1
The com-
ponents of this waste include glass and plastics, as well as heavy metals and contaminants such
as mercury, cadmium and lead. Even if it were not toxic, the sheer quantities of electronic and
electrical equipment being discarded would make e-waste a major concern. There are billions
of computers, digital cameras, mobile phones, PDAs, iPods and games machines in use and, as
technology improves, so too increases the desire to constantly upgrade or replace equipment.
In 2005 over 731,000 computers were dumped in landfills in Australia alone, and this number
is likely to double in 2006.
2
There are currently two main regulatory approaches for controlling the dumping of e-waste.
First, regulation implemented by local governments banning disposal of electronics in landfill;
second, regulation at the international level, represented mainly by the Basel Convention on
the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal (1989).
The Basel Convention is essentially an agreement prohibiting global free trade in toxic waste;
however, the US neither controls nor prohibits toxic trade and has not ratified it. As a result,
vast quantities of hazardous e-waste are shipped from the US to developing countries, in par
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ticular Nigeria and China, where computers are stripped for any recyclable materials and the
rest dumped in landfills or waterways, or burned in the open air. The environmental and health
impacts of this practice are catastrophic and there is no regulatory means of controlling the
so-called ‘recycling’ processes within these countries.
Recycling waste electronic equipment is a highly specialized field. In Europe, waste electronic
and electrical equipment (WEEE) disposal plants are being established to deal with the increas-
ing amounts of material.
3
Facilities of this type will become commonplace across the devel-
oped world with their associated economic benefits in employment and resource recovery.
These facilities also serve to raise community awareness of the waste problem, which might
otherwise go unnoticed.
Regulation, resource recovery and recycling, however, are end-of-pipe approaches. There is a
need for systemic long-term solutions to the mounting problem of e-waste. While regulatory
control is important, it must be supported by a strong policy framework that incorporates
not only the economic benefits of resource recovery but controls over the design and manu
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facture of products. The EU has led the way in the latter area with regulation which, from 1
July 2006, bans the import or manufacture of electronic equipment that does not meet certain
standards on limiting use of the two most common brominated flame retardants and on re
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ducing the use of lead, mercury, cadmium and hexavalent chromium.
4
The regulation, known
as RoHS (Restriction on the Use of Certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic
Equipment) applies only to electronics sold in EU countries, but the strength of the combined
European market has forced manufacturers to take action on the design and manufacture of
products across the board.
Clearly, e-waste is a problem that is not going away. Like all forms of waste, e-waste is highly po
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litical and the long-term solution, therefore, will be political. The European Commission is cur
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rently adopting a new Regulatory Framework for the Registration, Evaluation and Authorization
of Chemicals (REACH). This will tighten the restrictions imposed on the electronics industry
through RoHS. Such regulations will enforce changes in design and manufacture and increase
producer responsibility. Dealing with waste before it becomes waste is widely recognized as
the key to sustainability in waste management. Extended producer responsibility (EPR) ensures
manufacturers take responsibility for their products beyond the sale and encourages the pro-
duction of equipment that complies with environmental standards. Local regulations on the
disposal of e-waste are becoming more common, and as well as placing more responsibility on
producers, these will ensure that consumers, too, accept greater responsibility for the ultimate
destination of the equipment they purchase.
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