Electronic Waste
Electronic waste, or e-waste, is the discarded remains of unwanted electronic goods and appliances, such as televisions, computers and cell phones. It currently equals about 1% of the solid waste generated in developed countries. However, it is also the fastest growing part of the municipal waste stream. A 2001 study estimated that 1,600 computers became obsolete each day in Oregon and Washington. E-waste is contains several toxic substances, most notably lead, cadmium, mercury, chromium, plastics and brominated flame retardants. While electronic appliances simply sitting in houses do not pose a threat to the environment, once they are discarded and land filled, the toxic substances leach into the ground water. At best, only about 15% of e-waste gets recycled in the US. Most e-waste being collected for recycling are not recycled in developed countries. About 70% of the e-waste generated globally ends up in China, where the recycling practices do more harm than good to the environment. These problems have convinced Washington State and cities within to pass legislation that promotes the increased recycling of e-waste. Snohomish County was the first county to ban land filling of e-waste in November 2002. This was followed by King County in September 2005. Together, these counties have set up the Take-it-back Network, which provides consumers options for recycling hazardous waste in a safe and cost effective manner. Take-it-Back Network members have to commit to environmentally responsible recycling practices and must recycle materials domestically or in developed countries. Washington State followed suit by establishing a producer responsibility system in 2006. Chapter 173-900 WAC, the Electronic Products Recycling Program, requires manufacturers to annually register and submit a fee to the Department of Ecology and must participate in a plan for the collection, transportation and recycling of unwanted e-waste. This program will be in effect starting from 2009.
Read more about this topic: Climate Change In Washington
Famous quotes containing the words electronic and/or waste:
“Sometimes, because of its immediacy, television produces a kind of electronic parable. Berlin, for instance, on the day the Wall was opened. Rostropovich was playing his cello by the Wall that no longer cast a shadow, and a million East Berliners were thronging to the West to shop with an allowance given them by West German banks! At that moment the whole world saw how materialism had lost its awesome historic power and become a shopping list.”
—John Berger (b. 1926)
“Men should not labor foolishly like brutes, but the brain and the body should always, or as much as possible, work and rest together, and then the work will be of such a kind that when the body is hungry the brain will be hungry also, and the same food will suffice for both; otherwise the food which repairs the waste energy of the overwrought body will oppress the sedentary brain, and the degenerate scholar will come to esteem all food vulgar, and all getting a living drudgery.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)