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Hewlett Packard (HP), in collaboration with the Global Digital Solidarity Fund (DSF), and the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Testing and Research (Empa), has launched a groundbreaking initiative to develop sustainable recycling processes to tackle the problem of e-waste in Africa. For the past two years, the initiative has been overseeing a pilot program facility in South Africa and conducting e-waste management assessment studies in both Kenya and Morocco; the goal of the assessments is ultimately to properly determine each country's ability to deal with the e-waste there, whether it arose from electronics that were purchased new within the country and are now reaching their end of life, or from electronics that were shipped illegally from other countries. The project has been examining efforts by both African governments and organizations to safely handle e-waste. The project has been compiling extensive information, such as the policy and legal framework in each country, standard settings for e-waste treatment, organizations and programs already in place to safely process e-waste, and the actual amounts of e-waste present. MediaGlobal article by Shefali Lall, 7/20/09.

Individuals who are moving can request the service from NorthStar, a Los Angeles-based moving company. E-Cycle Environmental employees will pick up old electronics, such as computers, televisions, batteries and other devices. The Los Angeles-area based electronics recycler will recycle the items and guarantees it will not export material to developing countries.

Image summarizing hazardous materials found in computers; Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition via WRPPN

"E-waste Report: Determination of Regulated Elements in Seven Types of Discarded Consumer Electronic Products"; January 2004; Hazardous Material Laboratory, California Dept. of Toxic Substances Control;

A paper by an EPA workgroup

Sens. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., have introduced legislation that would promote research and development of programs to improve the recycling of electronic equipment. The Electronic Device Recycling Research and Development Act would provide research grants to find ways to deal with electronic waste, much of which contains hazardous materials including lead and cadmium.

Millions of printed circuit boards from discarded electronics are tossed into landfills every year. In addition to the volume of waste, the material can leach chemicals into the soil. As an alternative, researchers at Shanghai Jiao Tong University in China are finding various ways to reuse the panels, including as an additive in asphalt.

Answering questions about both e-waste disposal and recycling involves a host of challenges. For example, little information is available to allow a complete assessment of how e-waste ultimately managed. General estimates have been made about the management of cathode ray tubes (CRTs, the only devices where disposal is federally regulated), but little reliable information is available regarding other categories of e-waste. Further, little information is available regarding the total amount of functioning electronics exported to developing countries for legitimate reuse. What is known is that e-waste recycling involves complex processes and it is more costly to recycle e-waste in the United States, where there is a limited recycling infrastructure. It also is known that most consumer electronics manufacturers (who provide the market for material recovery from recycled electronics) have moved overseas.

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The WMMFA is the manufacturer board-directed authority created by state law to handle the recycling of certain electronics in the state of Washington. Our job is to follow state law and guidelines as set forth by the department of Ecology to create a standard plan that manufacturers will participate in and finance. We coordinate collectors, transporters and processors to recycle covered electronics, then bill participating member manufacturers for the costs. Starting January 1st, 2009 covered electronics: TVs, Computer Monitors, Laptops and Computer towers will be recycled. The plan does not cover printers, scanners, keyboards, mice or other accessories.

Headlines abound with stories of branded technology being fished out of rivers and landfills in developing nations leaking toxic metals into the water supply. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates roughly 400,000 tons of e-waste goes to recyclers every year, and that up to 80 percent of the materials sorted for recycling end up in operations in China, India, Southeast Asia and West Africa where it is disassembled and burned or dumped. But it doesn't have to be that way, declares Mark Newton, the senior manager of environmental sustainability at Dell Computers, the computer manufacturing giant based in Round Rock, Texas.

As we move into an era of technological advancements, the change in demands and user requirements is inevitable. To sustain competitive goals, individuals and businesses opt for newly upgraded gadgets while ditching the old ones. This rapid change is leading to accumulation of million tons of e-waste worldwide. To deal with this growing problem, it is crucial to serve the discarded electronics with the green recycling process. Read on the blog here that discusses sources of e-waste, their effects, and some easy ways to go green.