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Even worse, the US currently has no formal federal legislation regulating e-waste

exported up to 40% of its e-waste to other countries.[5] However, the waste landscape is changing quickly: China, a major waste importer, banned foreign waste shipments as of January 2018.[6] As the US must begin processing more waste domestically, it is increasingly important that proper regulations are set in place

25 out of 50 states have independent e-waste recycling policies, but a federal policy has yet to come to fruition

Consumer Product Safety Commission possesses the ability to enforce durability standards.

Congress should pass an act

mandating a warranty on all electronic devices

Congress should officially instate a minimum warranty length of 2 years for all electronic devices.

By simply extending product lifetimes by even just a quarter through the measures mentioned above, the US can massively reduce the amount of e-waste that pollutes the US.

these hydrocarbons can contribute to the greenhouse gas effect, which many scientists think is a leading contributor to global warming.

respiratory problems, chronic nausea, and debilitating headaches

—brought on by the hazardous working environment and toxic air pollution.

smashing up old computers and televisions in search of valuable parts and burning insulated cables to recover copper.

The Agbogbloshie dump is a result of the world’s increasing demand for electronic equipment as consumers continually upgrade their devices and throw out the older ones.

The e-waste problem could expand into a global health crisis,

significant proportion of this electronic waste is sent, often illegally, from the West to developing countries across Africa and Asia.

Around 50 million tons of electronic waste, or e-waste, is being thrown away each year, according to a report published this year by the United Nations.

figure is projected to double by 2050.

only 20 percent of e-waste is thought to be recycled appropriately.

The rest “ends up in landfill, or is disposed of by informal workers in poor conditions,” the UN found.

A

“E-waste is a growing global challenge that poses a serious threat to the environment and human health worldwide,”

In Ghana, the waste arrives via the Port of Tema, 20 miles to the east of the Agbogbloshie dump.

They are often labeled as secondhand consumer products, health experts said, so they are not strictly considered waste.

“There are skin diseases and ailments [at Agbogbloshie], but the worst problem here is respiratory illnesses, because the amount of pollution here is so high,”

the quality of air is terrible

“The workers can’t do anything about it because they have to earn a living, so it’s a trade-off. They earn money but their health suffers.”

These health risks are entering the food chain. The Agbogbloshie area is home to one of the largest food markets in Accra, and haggard livestock roam freely and graze on the dumpsite.

Agbogbloshie contained some of the most hazardous chemicals on earth.

One egg hatched by a free-range chicken in Agbogbloshie exceeded European Food Safety Authority limits on chlorinated dioxins, which can cause cancer and damage the immune system, 220 times over.

about 80,000 men, women, and children subsist from the Agbogbloshie dump, living either on-site or in the adjacent slum.

Ghana imports about 150,000 tons of secondhand electronics a year,

an international treaty that since 1989 has forbidden developed nations from carrying out unauthorized dumping of e-waste in less developed countries.

It is very important the issue of waste export to developing countries such as Africa and other countries in transition should be looked at critically.”

The German development agency GIZ is in the midst of delivering a €5 million ($5.5 million) project to build a sustainable, efficient recycling system at Agbogbloshie, as well as a health clinic and football pitch for workers.

But as the world’s appetite for electronics keeps growing, preventing the illegal dumping of electronic waste and the devastating impact it has on places like Agbogbloshie will prove an even greater challenge.

The sheer number of electronic devices entering the waste stream is also leveling off or slightly declining, Babbitt and Althaf say. This is due to something that Babbitt terms “convergence”: gaming consoles, for example, can act as DVD players; smartphones are also cameras and video recorders. In the past, says Babbitt, people needed separate devices for each of those applications.

The world produces about 53 million tons of e-waste annually and that volume is expected to double by 2050, according to the United Nations Institute for Training and Research and the International Telecommunication Union.

But he says Mount Recyclemore "forces viewers to consider e-waste as something that's local, immediate and very much theirs. Addressing questions of electronic refuse will in part require consumers in developed countries to tell manufacturers to make more durable and repairable devices. Artworks like this one are a starting point for the discussion.

Clearly, hotels and resorts are in the business of making money, but they must do so in a conscientious manner

The environmental focus is here to stay and must be embraced.

The focus on sustainability or "going green" is quickly becoming a major trend. But let’s face it, being environmentally conscious is the right thing to do, and it should be a business imperative for everyone. After all, a significant portion of the hospitality and tourism industries rely on the natural beauty and desirability of destinations: beach resorts, mountain ski lodges and canyon-land ranches

Using IT responsibly and effectively to reduce energy, water and paper consumption: Energy management systems are effective at controlling guest comfort while saving energy consumption and costs.

There are numerous opportunities for IT professionals to take leadership roles in helping their organizations to adopt sustainable practices.

Deploying effective technology practices such as Energy Star compliance to power down computers automatically after periods of inactivity and server virtualization: This means having applications which share a common server rather than each application hosted on a separate server.

Tackling e-waste and deploying recycling technologies to reduce environmental waste and impacts: Many electronic firms offer responsible recycling programs for used hardware. Technology can also be utilized to assist in the recycling process

 Digital marketing practices: Using digital media instead of print media is a great way to save money while reducing the impact on the environment. By tapping into social media, you can let guests be involved in green practices and spread the word virally about all the good the organization is doing

There is a growing environmentally conscious market, a profitable segment to tap

.    Educate employees and guests to improve awareness of environmental issues and green practices in your organization and the industry.

   Conduct an energy audit to see where and how energy is being consumed and to establish a baseline. Continue these audits on a regular basis.

Seek suggestions from employees and guests, and offer rewards for ideas that get implemented.

Celebrate and market key successes

E-waste contains these hard-to-find elements in abundance.

as of 2019, only around 17% of the world’s e-waste was being properly managed for recycling in the countries that generate it

In an initial demonstration, this method recovered more than 80% of the precious metals, such as palladium and silver, that were present in an e-waste sample4, while also enabling easy isolation of toxic compounds such as mercury and lead.

Standard building blocks such as silicon, iron and copper are typically joined by more exotic elements. These include highly conductive precious metals such as platinum and gold, as well as rare-earth elements such as neodymium, which possess unique magnetic and electrical properties.

Conventional circuit boards are built on fibreglass, which is non-biodegradable and typically laced with potentially toxic fire-retardant compounds. Martins’ group is working on paper-based boards that could offer an environmentally friendlier alternative.

recyclable or compostable electronics could become invaluable in devices intended for short-term use, or in narrow-purpose devices such as wearables or environmental sensors that don’t have to meet the same rigorous performance standards as the processors found in smartphones.

But more-aggressive measures will probably be necessary, including tighter regulations.

Manufacturers should also pursue practices that promote circularity.

Planned obsolescence by manufacturers is part of the problem, but resolving this issue will also be a matter of public education and policies that boost civic-mindedness and environmental consciousness

“Hilton is committed to minimizing waste by providing our properties with a sustainable solution for the proper disposal of their existing TV sets rather than sending them to a landfill where they can leak harmful substances in the environment,” says Judy Pines, director of sustainability and responsible sourcing at Hilton.

Working together, Hilton Hotels, LG and GSS recycled nearly 400 older flat-panel hotel TVs from the Hilton Newark Airport.

Each recycled TV set was replaced with a new 43-inch Energy Star certified LG flat screen TV. The program was successfully executed in four days and had a minimal impact on guests.  

The old TVs were transported to an e-Stewards-certified recycling facility in New York, where they were manually taken apart and sorted into various components. “Parts that cannot be dismantled efficiently are shredded into smaller e-waste pieces and eventually broken down even further,”

TVs contain valuable and reusable materials such as plastics, copper, gold and glass and approximately 99 percent of the TV components can be repurposed into new electronics

One option is a turnkey solution that includes the installation of new TVs, the removal of old TVs (50 unit minimum), TV programming and transportation to a recycling facility. The second option is for recycling services only and includes the removal of the old TVs and transportation of the old TVs to an e-recycler.

In addition to partnering with Hilton Hotels, LG has focused on making responsible recycling a priority.

Guiyu is known as the largest e-waste recycling site in the world, and the city’s residents exhibit substantial digestive, neurological, respiratory, and bone problems. For example, 80 percent of Guiyu’s children experience respiratory ailments, and are especially at risk of lead poisoning.

The Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal bans the exchange of hazardous waste, including e-waste, between developed and developing countries.

The United States is the largest generator of e-waste worldwide and the only industrialized nation not yet ratifying the Basel Convention.

estimates suggest collection levels are still around 50 per cent below normal levels for the time of year

Concern is growing over the treatment and disposal of lithium ion batteries

Unless processed and recycled safely, lithium batteries pose a serious fire risk

lot of these batteries are being put into household waste bins or thrown into skips at recycling sites. And they are not then treated with the caution that is needed

Only 12.5% of e-waste is currently recycled

Recycling 1 million laptops saves the energy equivalent to the electricity used by 3,657 U.S. homes in a year

The E-cycling Central website allows users to select their state and city to find a trusted recycler nearest them.

Reuse is always more environmentally sound and will give devices an extra couple years of usability.

One is called the e-Stewards Standard for Responsible Recycling and Reuse of Electronic Equipment, known as e-Stewards, and the other is called Responsible Recycling (R2) Practices, known as R2.

If an electronics recycler has either one of these certifications they are typically more trustworthy than a recycler without one.

With that being said, it is best to recycle your electronics as soon as you know you are done using them.

Before you recycle or donate your computer or cell phone, be sure to erase your data from the device.

CRT TV’s, printers, cartridges and many large home appliances are dangerous to recycle, so consumers should expect to pay a small fee to recycle them.

Don’t throw nickel cadmium batteries in the garbage! They’re made from poisonous materials that can harm the environment—and they also need to be recycled.

cell phone batteries can be used to make new smartphones and batteries, while zinc and aluminum from laptops and tablets can be used for metal plates, jewelry, cars or art.

A data centre is a facility used to house computer systems and their components, and it can be far and away the biggest contributor to an organisation’s carbon footprint. A data centre’s life expectancy is relatively long so it is imperative it is built to the highest standards in terms of efficiency as any excess energy use will lead to significant cost implications over the years.

1. Build the most energy-efficient data centre possible. This will save energy and costs over its lifespan. 2. Only get the data storage capacity that is currently required and forecast for the lifespan. Many data centres have excess capacity that burns energy (and therefore costs) unnecessarily. Don’t have servers or equipment that will not be used. 3. Cooling data centres. Traditionally cooling has been done by air circulation, which is very inefficient. Larger data centres already use other technologies to cool more efficiently, such as water cooling. 4. Virtualisation technology. Improve your system’s resource utilisation through virtualisation technology. Virtualisation is the creation of a virtual (rather than actual) version of something, such as an operating system, server, network, etc. and allows a single user to access several physical devices on one terminal. A computing device dedicated to an individual member of staff or allocated for one software application is highly inefficient and expensive. Virtualisation consolidates resources, requiring less power and cooling. 5. Consider cloud computing. This is a location-independent IT service, typically available over the internet, where shared servers provide resources, software and data to computers and other devices on demand, increasing IT capacity and capabilities without an organisation having to invest in new infrastructure. Keeping data virtually, or “in the clouds”, means less information stored on IT systems and therefore less energy being used to run the systems. Systems such as BT’s Virtual Data Centre, a hosted data centre that enables businesses to create, deploy, monitor and manage their own service through a self-service portal, claim to offer savings of up to 40% of the total cost of running one’s own data centre as well as reducing the space required, the level of emissions produced and the power consumed.

6. Measure and monitor power usage. Once you know what’s using the power, focus on why and whether it’s possible to reduce consumption.

1. Upgrade. Before buying new, investigate options to upgrade with the latest energy-efficient components to extend appliances’ working life and efficiency. 2. Green labels. Look out for the certification labels denoting more energy-efficient equipment, from Blue Angel in Germany to TCO in Sweden and Energy Star in the US (see below). 3. Screens. Opt for flat screen monitors, which reduce energy use by over two-thirds. 4. Get the right equipment. Consider your information technology needs against the tasks required. For example, laptops may be a better option in some circumstances because they have been developed to be energy-efficient and generally match the computer to the task required. Remember: not all staff have the same needs. 5. Consider running costs. Look at the life cycle costs, not just the purchase cost. Take note of running and standby costs of equipment. These can vary enormously.

Top 10 Tips to reduce running costs of office equipment (source: Carbon Trust) 1. Computers. Activate energy-saving features. In fact, most office equipment will have these features, so make sure they’re activated. 2. Standby features. Introduce a policy to activate standby features, don’t assume employees will do it. 3. Turn it off. Buy seven-day timers. These can save up to 70% on energy costs. 4. Monitor and manage the equipment that is peripheral to computers, such as speakers, printers, etc. and consider installing intelligent switch-off solutions. Printers can consume 30%-40% of their peak power demand when idling between printing and standby modes, so minimising this can produce cost savings, reduce heat output and increase its operating life. 5. Educate your staff. Consider a screen saver with an energy-saving message. 6. Rationalise your equipment via networking to reduce the number of printers (for example) in any office area. 7. Printers Use only black and white for internal documents and colour only when absolutely necessary. Consider the benefits of inkjet printers v laser printers. Inkjet energy use is much lower than that of a laser printer. Encourage staff to use print preview functions. Set default printing mode to double-sided. Use lower-specification printers, such as inkjets, for internal documents and encourage staff to use these for day-to-day use.

8. Photocopiers High volume copiers use more energy so should be used sparingly. Use low melting point inks (available from stationery suppliers). Encourage staff to copy in batches to increase standby time. Stick to black and white copiers and only use colour when absolutely necessary. Set default copying to double-sided. 9. Invest to save and purchase only what you need. 10. Don’t forget to motivate staff. Keep repeating the message of the importance of energy saving in ways that they can understand (for example, a computer monitor switched off overnight saves enough energy to microwave six dinners).

WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment), or e-waste, is the term used for old or disposed electronic equipment. It covers both the toxic and valuable materials found in appliances. The most important lesson is to reuse, not recycle. With so much e-waste, and electrical devices such as computers and flat screens often being replaced well before the end of their shelf life and ending up in landfill, it’s imperative that the most is made of these materials by reusing them productively.

Options to investigate when trying to reduce e-waste are: 1. Can you upgrade your equipment with new energy efficient components? 2. Can it be used by someone else in the company? 3. Can it be given to a charity? (Note: charities must be registered to take WEEE.) 4. Will the manufacturer take back the old equipment and reuse parts in new products?

Developments on the horizon include: 1. Smaller, more efficient processors. The continuing development of microprocessors means a mobile phone can have around the same computational power as the average desktop computer back in 2000. 2. Memristors. Electronics giant HP is in the process of developing “memristors” (see photo above), which have greater memory storage capacity while requiring less energy and space. They are due to be on the shelf in about three years. 3. Specialist data centre design. Siemens recently launched its transformational Data Centre Solution, a groundbreaking strategy in data centre energy-efficient design and operation. It claims the system, which uses virtualization and efficient power and cooling, offers many benefits for businesses, including up to 50% energy savings through ground water cooling and IT costs reduced by 30%. 4. Outsourcing. Hotels of all sizes are starting to view IT outsourcing as a viable option to gain flexibility and reduce short-term costs and increase transparency of cost structures and processes. 5. Optimisation of resources. This will become a necessity either through virtualisation, networking or cloud computing. 6. Water cooling. IBM is currently working on a supercomputer that is cooled by water (a given volume of water can hold 4,000 times more waste than air), which claims to be 50% more energy efficient than the world’s leading systems. The Aquasar stacks many computer processors on top of each other with cooling water flowing between each one. IBM’s Dr Bruno Michel told the BBC in November 2010: “We plan that 10 to 15 years from now, we can collapse such a system into one sugar cube — we’re going to have a supercomputer in a sugar cube.”

age of 40

recyclers and dismantlers have recorded dangerously high levels of lead, mercury and chromium in their bodies.

All kinds of animals and organisms may be exposed to mercury, such as an earthworm or a little fish in a river. Larger animals which ingest these organisms, or graze on the plants which grow from contaminated soil are then contaminated as well – and up the food chain it goes.

95 percent of e-waste in India is recycled via the non-formal sector which often entails child labour.

toxic chemicals that electronic waste contains do not organically break down and can, over time, seep into the environment around landfills, contaminating local groundwater or get absorbed into the atmosphere, thus seriously endangering the health of nearby communities and animal populations.

Research has shown that it is especially dangerous because of the process of bioaccumulation, referring to the uptake of a chemical in an organism over time, and biomagnification, when there is an increase in the concentration of a chemical in the food chain as a result of ingestion of other organisms, in eco-systems surrounding landfills.

2007 study, it was estimated that e-waste could increase by 500 percent by 2020.

might in turn indirectly contaminate humans in the future.

Now, more than ever, the proper treatment of e-waste needs to start taking place, so that not only human suffering is averted now and in the foreseeable future, but so that the long-term degradation of our environment, ecosystem and health is averted as well.

OFFERS/Ex-IT is a reuse and recycling project that aids students, low income citizens and small start-up businesses by giving them access to cheap IT equipment. Another respected group is Computer Aid International, which distributes refurbished PCs all across the globe.

22kg of toxic chemicals, 240kg of fossil fuels and 1,500 kg of water.

consuming 15% of the total electricity used in offices

50 million tons of e-waste was generated worldwide, but only 13% was recycled. US Environmental Protection Agency

Reusing working computers is up to 20 times more energy-efficient than recycling them

hich utilises the naturally cool environment below ground to reduce power consumption, and increase energy efficiency.

o date, more than 28,761 IT assets have been recycled (waiting for latest stats), which equates to 629,408lbs of e-waste diverted from landfill.

Big hotel companies have wised up to the costs involved in operating inefficient hardware and are driving system changes to cut wasteful expenditure.

nt. A data centre’s life expectancy is relatively long so it is imperative it is built to the highest standards in terms of efficiency as any excess energy use will lead to significant cost implications over the years.

most energy-efficient data centre possible.

Get the right equipment.

Only get the data storage capacity that is currently required and forecast for the lifespan. Many d

Don’t have servers or equipment that will not be used.

, such as water cooling.

Data centres last 30-odd years and you can’t go back in and fix them, so they need to be efficient. Over time, this saves money as they run efficiently. Servers have to be Energy Star-compliant or I won’t even talk to vendors.”

cloud computing

e. Once you know what’s using the power, focus on why and whether it’s possible to reduce consumption. Spotlight on Fairmont Hotels & Resorts - T

into account not only the initial outlay cost of hardware, but also the running costs.

e up to 30% more energy, making it significantly more expensive when looking at the total cost of running that appliance during its lifespan.

investigate options to upgrade with the latest energy-efficient components to extend appliances’ working life and efficiency

Green labels

allows a single user to access several physical devices on one terminal. A computing device dedicated to an individual member of staff or allocated for one software application is highly inefficient and expensive. Virtualisation consolidates resources, requiring less power and cooling.

is to reuse, not recycle

and flat screens often being replaced well before the end of their shelf life and ending up in landfill, it’s imperative that the most is made of these materials by reusing them productively.

Dumping e-waste on developing countries was until recently commonplace, and it has caused huge environmental problems and harm to human health in countries such as Ghana and China. But new legislation, including the EU WEEE Directive and the 2010 US Responsible Electronics Recycling Act, has stopped countries from being able to export e-waste.

dopted a scheme where the cost of recycling an electronic item is included in the purchase price. In Switzerland, they’ve been able to return all electronic waste to their place of purchase since 2005, and in the European Union, Taiwan, South Korea and Japan manufacturers must by law recycle 75% of the e-waste they produce.

Smaller, more efficient processors.

which have greater memory storage capacity while requiring less energy and space. They are due to be on the shelf in about three years.

pecialist data centre design.

all sizes are starting to view IT outsourcing as a viable option to gain flexibility and reduce short-term costs and increase transparency of cost structures and processes.

6. Water cooling

The Environmental Protection Agency estimates 99.1 million televisions sit unused in closets and basements across the country