The e-Waste Problem          ^{Print this page}

The Information Age has created an electronics industry that is the fastest growing manufacturing industry in the world. With this growth comes rapid product obsolescence resulting in an ever-growing waste stream consisting of electronic wastes or e-waste.

The Problem

• E-waste is growing 4 times faster than other waste streams generating over 12 million tons in 2007 in the US alone. Only 12.5% of that waste is being recycled.

• The bulk of e-waste ends up in municipal landfills or incinerators that are not equipped to properly manage toxic materials

• Many companies, claiming to "recycle" e-waste, are actually exporting to developing countries where toxic components are burned, dumped, or smashed apart by impoverished workers and children without proper protection.

• E-waste contains significant amounts of toxic or hazardous materials such as heavy metals, brominated compounds and polyvinyl chlorides, leaching toxins into the soil and groundwater, causing crop deficiencies, birth defects, and serious illness.