Unplugging the Global E-Waste Crisis

Image Source: Flickr.com

By Samantha Saverin 

Electronics have supercharged our lives, making it easier to stay in touch with loved ones, keep our homes clean with ease, and quickly access important blog posts – like this one. However, a crisis has emerged parallel to our increasingly electrified society, as e-waste the world’s “fastest-growing solid-waste stream.”

E-waste is an electronic product or an item containing electronic components that has reached the end of its lifecycle. The United States first regulated the disposal of e-waste when the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) was enacted in 1976. Currently, RCRA only regulates the disposal of cathode ray tubes (CRTs), which are the glass video display components often used in TVs and computer monitors. Although RCRA has been amended by subsequent acts, such as the Hazardous and Solid Waste Act of 1984, there has not been substantial regulation of e-waste at the federal level. Due to RCRA’s minimal coverage of electronics and the lack of national recycling standards for electronic waste, responsibility for promulgating laws and policies to recycle e-waste falls onto state and local governments. Currently, only 25 states have laws banning the disposal of electronics into regular garbage and recycling streams.

Even with the promulgation of federal and state regulations, the burden of responsibly disposing of e-waste still falls onto consumers; they must be aware of where and how to properly dispose of their old phones, computers, TVs, and other e-waste. The associated costs present an obstacle for consumers, who often must transport or ship their e-waste to a disposal or recycling facility themselves. Further, when it comes to recycling e-waste in the United States, the cost of operating a recycling center along with environmental and safety restrictions increases the cost of processing electronics. The result is the export of a large portion of the U.S.-produced e-waste overseas to developing countries for processing.

The U.S. is not alone in generating e-waste. In total, the world produces more than 50 million tons of e-waste every year. Of this waste only 20% is formally recycled in a recycling facility, while the remaining 80% ends up in landfills or is recycled informally in global e-waste hubs located in Asia, India, and Africa. In these hubs, workers process the e-waste by breaking down the electronics to remove valuable metals or other components for resale. They then dispose of the unvaluable components by incineration. Due to the lack safeguards, for workers processing e-waste – such as environmental or safety regulations – workers are often handling harmful chemicals such as mercury, cadmium, lead, and other carcinogenic chemicals contained in electronics without gloves or facial protection. Exposure to these chemicals can lead to cancer, miscarriages, and neurological damage. Toxic chemicals from e-waste processing have also been recorded in soil and water samples from areas where e-waste processing occurs, posing long-term environmental and human health concerns to the surrounding community.

A large portion of e-waste is discarded in landfills, with one report finding that of $206 billion spent on electronics in 2012, only 29% was properly recycled. The remaining electronics were presumably tossed into the regular trash stream. E-waste in landfills or regular recycling bins poses several ecological risks. The most direct risk of e-waste in landfills is the leaching of harmful toxins, such as flame retardants and heavy metals, into soil and ground water. Additionally, e-waste containing lithium-ion batteries or other flammable components can ignite fires at recycling facilities if discarded in a recycling bin with paper and cardboard, posing a threat to workers at the facility.

Another ecological concern from improper disposal of e-waste in a landfill is the waste of valuable, non-renewable metals, such as copper, gold, titanium, and platinum, and other components that can be recycled into new products. For example, as much as 7% of the world’s gold is currently estimated to be contained in e-waste.  Recycling electronic parts is increasingly important because demand for new products has grown over the years, driving the need for mining of the metals and other non-renewable materials required to create the desired electronics.

At the root of the rise of the e-waste crisis is the business strategy of planned obsolescence. Planned obsolescence describes a situation in which electronic products, such as smartphones and laptops, are designed to become obsolete within a certain time period, as planned by the manufacturer. This strategy often requires the consumer to update to a new version or replace the electronic within a few years. For example, a study of smartphone users in the U.S. and Canada found that smartphones are usually replaced within 24 months of purchase. Profitability is the driving force that has led manufacturers to increasingly incorporate planned obsolescence into the design, construction, and marketing of their products to pressure consumers to upgrade to a new model.

If the current trend continues, the United Nations projects global e-waste could reach 120 million tons per year by 2050. In light of this grim projection, there has been a global effort to address e-waste. For example, the Platform for Accelerating the Circular Economy (PACE) is a global coalition of business, government, and international organization leaders that work collaboratively to transition the world to a circular economy. Under the PACE model, a circular economy would require new electronics to be composed of more recycled components, have an extended life cycle, and have accessible and efficient end-of-life collection for recycling. The UN has also created the UN E-Waste Coalition, which is comprised of seven UN agencies that have partnered to spread awareness of e-waste, share knowledge best practices, and implement e- waste work on nation-wide scales. There have also been legal efforts to reduce the business practice of planned obsolescence. Recently, Apple agreed to settle with 150,000 iPhone users in Chile who claimed that their devices, iPhones 6, 6s, 7, and SE versions, began to slow their operation after Apple released a software update in 2017. The litigants claimed that the slowed operations were the result of Apple’s planned obsolescence programing in the devices that limits their lifespan and pushes users to upgrade to new iPhone models. This suit followed two U.S. lawsuits where Apple agreed to settle with claimants over slowed iPhone operations. The first suit, in March 2020, resulted in a payout of up to $500 million to settle with claimants across the U.S., and the second, in November 2020, resulted in a $113 million payout to settle with claimants in 30 states.

While these are not the only examples of large-scale efforts to address e-waste, much of the burden of properly disposing of e-waste remains on the consumer. Currently, the best practices for consumers seeking to limit their e-waste footprint are to delay replacing or acquiring new electronics until a new item is necessary, repair devices when possible, resell old electronics, and ensure that electronics are disposed of properly by taking e-waste to a disposal or recycling center. For Colorado residents, the state prohibits the disposal of e-waste into a landfill and requires consumers to transport their e-waste to a collection facility or event for recycling. To encourage consumers to responsibly recycle their e-waste, the Colorado Department of Health and Environment has compiled a statewide map and list of electronic disposal sites. Further, the City of Denver offers residents an “e-cycle” coupon to receive a discounted rate for dropping off TVs, monitors, and other electronics at a recycling facility.