E-waste Conversations #1 of ....

I have started interviewing several people that work in the end of the E-waste stream. While I am going to leave their names out since I thought of this after the interviews, I am sure they would be will to talk with interested parties. Please contact me to connect you.

The first interview was with a recycling coordinator. This business does processes (sorts, disassembles, and reuses) working and non-work equipment before it goes on to its final process (crushed, shredded, recycled, heated, melted, and incinerated). I chose this position because they have a unique view of the supply chain. They deal with the consumer and final processor, as well as the state regulations. We did the tour and initial conversation about where it was going and the process, pretty smooth considering (yet we are in Portland were there is above average buy-in for e-waste recycling). My notebook filled up when we started talking about challenges, at first they were slow in coming other than the usual issue with plastic. In plastic recycling one typically needs all one type to recycle it, which is a challenge when a printer or computer has 18 different types of plastic mixed throughout it. Most of which is recoverable, just time consuming. It is the junk plastic that spoils a batch and has trouble finding a recycling home. Agri-plas an Oregon plastic recycling company filled that niche nicely.

The other issues are also mostly around items that are difficult to find a recycling home for. These include: microwaves, copiers (the toner is hazardous), batteries (alkaline, button cells, and lithium), Compact Fluorescent and tubular Fluorescent bulbs (mercury), flat screen tv’s and monitors (again mercury), and anything with refrigerant in them. Not a small list, but at least a place to focus future interviews. And the last issue was space, they can process it all. That is rather than the small 10-20% of consumer e-waste that is dropped at a recycling center, 100% of the e-waste can be processed, but it takes time and space to sort all that “waste”. It would offer up jobs too. There is a catch.

There is always a catch, while it could all be processed (and in a fairly environmentally manner to boot, infinitely more environmental than going to the landfill) this time and space cost money. So does the processing, yes their are some recoverable outputs of the final processing (precocious metals, plastics, fuels, ash, and more) but it is this time and space consuming processing that is the bottle neck or point of leverage in this system.

I look forward to hearing your thoughts and ideas on this bottle neck and on the issue items for processing.

Olympic Medals from E-waste and Where NOT to Live

Well it seems to be true, there is a little debate about the facts behind it. A quick search of "the Google" did not uncover any truth in the comment about this being false advertising. Perhaps this will shed a more conversation on the topic, and people complain that the Olympics is a wasteful display.

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/discoblog/2009/10/20/2010-olympic-medals-made-from-e-waste/

While this drifts from the topic, I found it quite stunning. And e-wast was defiantly a part in these transformations.
http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/wilderness-resources/photos/the-15-most-toxic-places-to-live/apocalypse-now#image

Policy Solutions for Managing E-Waste

Policy Solutions for Managing E-Waste: "As electronic devices like cell phones, computer monitors and television sets become increasingly available – thus becoming one of the fastest growing components of the global waste stream – government and business leaders must find solutions for best managing these e-waste materials. This week, leading experts in the fields of electronics manufacturing, recycling and waste [...]

US Poised to Sign the Basel Convention?

US Poised to Sign the Basel Convention?: "
Ship leaving Bay Area. Image via: Derell_Licht on Flickr. com

With more countries tightening down on their e-waste regulations and requirements, and with communities in the US requiring special disposal of ewaste, but no follow-through on where it should go, US officials are having to give trash another look, reports the New York Times. With more e-waste being collected in communities, will the US finally sign?...Read the full story on TreeHugger

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StEP- Solving the E-waste Problem

The StEP initiative is made up of various UN organizations with the overall aim to solve the e-waste problem.
This site has many white papers and articles, links to other resources, and a break down of the five objectives and tasks set before it by the UN. This is an excellent clearing house for information and to start diving deeper into the questions and challenges of e-waste.

E-Waste Primer

Just to warm you up to the topic and before I get into the concept of environmental remediation of e-waste I want to shape our background for this discussion. 

First, what is e-waste?

Electronic waste, whole, partial or components of broken, unwanted, extra, or obsolete electronic devices and the batteries and cables that run them.

According to the EPA e-waste is the fastest growing segment of the municipal waste stream. Computers, cell phones, and televisions make up a large segment of this stream. With 1.9millon tons of e-waste being discarded in the United States and only 10% of that stream being partially recycled, this becomes a serious public issue. Not just because of the extra waste, but because of the toxic dangers hidden within these technologies.

Electronic waste contains heavy metals such as lead, cadmium, beryllium and brominates, know carcinogens and harmful to our environmental systems. It also contains valuable commodities such as copper, steel, and gold. The challenge in recycling these metals out is two fold. First, many of them are highly toxic and require specialized equipment and expensive processes to extract properly. Secondly, they are in small amounts fused to other metals or to various types of plastics, again causing expensive and potentially toxic recycling processes.

Electronic waste is not just recycled in its country of disposal, although it is against the Basel Convention treaty much of a developed nations e-waste is illegally exported to developing nations. China, India, and multiple African countries receive millions of tons of e-waste annually. This is a health and safety issue not just for portions of those societies that handle and deconstruct various types of e-waste without any personal safety devices. There is often no larger protection of metals leaching into the water systems or the atmospheric pollutants from open burnings of the plastic components to remove the metals.

With the rapid change in the latest electronics and planned obsolescence within those devices Electronic waste is an environmental and social issue that demands attention.

To test your knowledge and find links to help shore up those weaker areas in your e-waste knowledge follow the link below to a quick online quiz.

http://planetgreen.discovery.com/games-quizzes/ewaste-iq-quiz/

MGT566SX BGI Blog

This is the spot for the E-Waste beat.