GLOBAL E-WASTE
CRISIS CAUSED BY IMPROPER COMPUTER & ELECTRONIC
RECYCLING
DID YOU KNOW?
- Every year,
an estimated 400 million units of obsolete
electronics are scrapped.
- By 2010,
this figure will rise to three billion units.
While advances
in technology continue to improve and enrich
our lives, product lifecycles are getting shorter
and shorter. And that means an increasing stockpile
of end-of-life equipment that needs to be managed.
When discarded, much of this equipment ends up
in landfills in the US, or is exported to third
world countries.
- An average
of 220 tons of e-waste is dumped in landfills
and incinerators every year in the US alone.
These toxic items constitute as much as 2-5%
of the US municipal solid waste stream and
continues to grow rapidly.
- As much as
50 to 80 percent of US electronic waste collected
for recycling is sent to Asia.
Electronic equipment
contains harmful toxins which, when released
into the environment, can contaminate our water,
land and air. Lead, mercury, cadmium and flame
retardants are all persistent, bioaccumulative
toxins (PBTs) that cause birth defects and damage
to coronary, respiratory, nervous and skeletal
systems.
- A single
computer or television monitor contains an
average of 4 to 8 pounds of lead. Monitor
glass contains about 20% lead by weight.
When this glass is crushed in a landfill,
the lead leaches into the soil.
- Just 1/70
of a teaspoon of mercury is enough to contaminate
20 acres of a lake, rendering the fish inedible.
- In the US,
municipal incineration of e-waste is the
largest source of cancer-producing dioxin
and among the largest point source of heavy
metal contaminations in the atmosphere.
While there are
many ways to dispose of unwanted electronics,
there are few guarantees that the resulting e-waste
will be disposed of responsibly.
GreenCitizen is
working to change that.
GreenCitizen helps
individuals and organizations recycle their electronics
responsibly. We provide convenient, affordable
and responsible solutions that make it easy for
everyone to do their part to help save the environment
from harmful electronic waste.
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