The Problem of E-waste

Discarded computers and other consumer electronics (so called e-waste) are the fastest growing portion of our waste stream. There are hundreds of millions of old computers and TV's "out there," no longer being used, ready for disposal.

But these products are full of toxic materials, like lead, mercury, beryllium, and other chemicals which are extremely dangerous to humans. Therefore we need to keep them out of our landfills or incinerators, to keep these harmful chemicals from leaching into our groundwater or polluting our air.

What is E-waste?

When electronic products become obsolete and are ready for disposal, they are known as electronic waste, or e-waste. This includes a wide range of products, including:

TVs - CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) style, Flat panel, plasma, LCD
Monitors - CRT style and Flat panels
CPUs (Desktop computers, workstations, servers)
Laptops
Computer peripherals: keyboard, mouse, printers, scanners
Television peripherals: DVD, VCRs, Receivers
Personal electronics: PDAs, Music players (iPods, MP3s, etc)
Cell phones and wireless devices
Audio and stereo equipment

How big is the E-waste problem?

The National Safety Council estimates that there are 300 to 500 million obsolete computers in the US, ready for disposal . Likewise, hundreds of millions of televisions that have been sold over the past 50 years have become obsolete. Discarded computers and other consumer electronics (so called e-waste) are the fastest growing portion of our waste stream - growing almost 3 times faster than our overall municipal waste stream. One hundred thirty million cell phones are retired each year.

The problem is getting worse
Rapid advances in technology mean that electronic products are becoming obsolete more quickly. This, coupled with explosive sales in consumer electronics, means that more products are being disposed of, finding their way into landfills and incinerators. To make matters worse, the FCC mandated transition to digital television (HDTV) will only speed up the pace, as consumers will soon be dumping large numbers of old TVs that can't receive the new digital-only signals.

Some statistics:
57 million televisions and computers are sold annually to households and businesses in the United States.
Buyers of new TVs and computers often don't discard older models when buying newer versions of the same products. Approximately 20 to 24 million computers and televisions are added to storage each year.

Electronic waste is toxic waste
Over 1,000 materials, including chlorinated solvents, brominated flame retardants, PVC, heavy metals, plastics and gases, are used to make electronic products and their components-semiconductor chips, circuit boards, and disk drives. A CRT monitor can contains between four and eight pounds of lead alone. Big screen TVs contain even more than that. About 40% of the heavy metals, including lead, mercury and cadmium, in landfills come from electronic equipment discards.

What are the health risks?

Other resources on toxic chemical in electronics

View chart on Toxics in a Computer - Where are toxic materials used in a computer and monitor. (Printable PDF file)

Toxic Tech: Greenpeace's briefing paper on dangerous chemicals in electronics