Electronic waste recycling
Such processes involve specialised facilities and premises, but within the home or ordinary workplace, sound components of damaged or obsolete computers can often be reused, reducing replacement costs.
Recycling is considered environmentally friendly because it prevents hazardous waste, including heavy metals and carcinogens, from entering the atmosphere, landfill or waterways.
There is stringent legislation designed to enforce and encourage the sustainable disposal of appliances, the most notable being the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive of the European Union and the United States National Computer Recycling Act.
Rapid technology change, low initial cost, and planned obsolescence have resulted in a fast-growing surplus of computers and other electronic components around the globe.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, estimates 30 to 40 million surplus PCs, classified as "hazardous household waste",[4] would be ready for end-of-life management in the next few years.
Most electronic waste is sent to landfills or incinerated, which releases materials such as lead, mercury, or cadmium into the soil, groundwater, and atmosphere, thus having a negative impact on the environment.
Reuse of tin, silicon, iron, aluminium, and a variety of plastics that are present in bulk in computers or other electronics can reduce the costs of constructing new systems.
[8][9] Computer components contain many toxic substances, like dioxins, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), cadmium, chromium, radioactive isotopes and mercury.
[1] Circuit boards contain considerable quantities of lead-tin solders that are more likely to leach into groundwater or create air pollution due to incineration.
[12] For example, due to the lack of strict regulations in developing countries, sometimes workers smash old products, propelling toxins on to the ground, contaminating the soil and putting those who do not wear shoes in danger.
These methods pose environmental and health hazards, as toxins are released into the air and acid bath residue can enter the water supply.
The United States Congress considers a number of electronic waste bills, like the National Computer Recycling Act introduced by Congressman Mike Thompson (D-CA).
Producers of information technology, telecommunications, and audio-visual (ITT/AV) equipment were required to register by November 30, 2020, with collection and management obligations commencing on January 1, 2021.
[29] One theory is that increased regulation of electronic waste and concern over the environmental harm in mature economies creates an economic disincentive to remove residues prior to export.
Other e-waste is shredded to roughly 100 mm pieces and manually checked to separate out toxic batteries and capacitors which contain poisonous metals.
[34] Online auctions are an alternative for consumers willing to resell for cash less fees, in a complicated, self-managed, competitive environment[35] where paid listings might not sell.
Those orchestration tools also introduced fairly fast set-up processes allowing to use junkyard computing economically and even making this pattern applicable in the first place.
Scaling this paradigm is also quite limited due to the increasing importance of factors like power efficiency and maintenance efforts, making this kind of computing perfect for mid-sized applications.
[47] The first publication to report the recycling of computers and electronic waste was published on the front page of the New York Times on April 14, 1993, by columnist Steve Lohr.
Demand in Asia for electronic waste began to grow when scrap yards found they could extract valuable substances such as copper, iron, silicon, nickel and gold, during the recycling process.
[51][52][53][54] E-cycling or "E-waste" is an initiative by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) which refers to donations, reuse, shredding and general collection of used electronics.
"E-cyclable" items include, but are not limited to: televisions, computers, microwave ovens, vacuum cleaners, telephones and cellular phones, stereos, and VCRs and DVDs just about anything that has a cord, light or takes some kind of battery.
[55] Investment in e-cycling facilities has been increasing recently due to technology's rapid rate of obsolescence, concern over improper methods, and opportunities for manufacturers to influence the secondary market (used and reused products).
According to the Reason Foundation, e-cycling only raises the product and waste management costs of e-waste for consumers and limits innovation on the part of high-tech companies.
[63] On the other hand, the electronic products in question are generally manufactured, and repaired under warranty, in the same nations, which anti-reuse recyclers depict as primitive.
Currently, pieces of government legislation and a number of grassroots efforts have contributed to the growth of e-cycling processes which emphasize decreased exports over increased reuse rates.
Many people believe that the U.S. should follow the European Union model in regards to its management of e-waste, such as the Extended Producer Responsibility, which was started in Sweden in 1990.
No data has been provided to show that people who agree with the European model have based their agreement on measured outcomes or experience-based scientific method.
Having customer data stolen, lost, or misplaced contributes to the ever-growing number of people who are affected by identity theft, which can cause corporations to lose more than just money.
If an organization has any consumer info on file, they must by law (Red Flags Clarification act of 2010) have written information protection policies and procedures in place, that serve to combat, mitigate, and detect vulnerable areas that could result in identity theft.
