Cisco, Dell, HP, Motorola, Nokia, Research in Motion, Sprint Nextel and Vodafone, as well as Apple, Inc. have stepped in to fulfill this vital service. A new report from Pike Research, who tracks global clean technology trends, notes that with the implementation of these private sector programs, in conjunction with new government regulations on what can end up in landfills, e-waste will begin to be curtailed in 2016, when recycling practices fully catch up with the growth of personal machinery.
7/18/09 article from The Times [of London] on the problem of illegal e-waste trade and unsafe e-waste processing in Ghana. Article contains the following statistics: "Even in the European Union, which has some of the most stringent controls, an estimated 75 per cent of e-waste is unaccounted for. Most of this, an estimated 8.5 million tonnes a year, is believed to be finding its way to unofficial dumps in West Africa."
Trash Track relies on the development of smart tags, which will be attached to different types of garbage in order to track in real time each piece of waste as it traverses the city's sanitation system. The goal of the project is to reveal the disposal process of our everyday objects and waste, as well as to highlight potential inefficiencies in today's recycling and sanitation systems. The project will be exhibited at the Architectural League in New York City and in Seattle starting September 2009. MIT SENSEable City Lab project; this is the project web site.
Approach Two relies primarily on government statistics on sales of electronic products. It then uses the same lifespan data (with some modifications) as Approach One to estimate
EOL quantities. From these EOL estimates, we subtract the quantity of selected electronics disposed to yield the quantity recycled. This approach also provides information on the composition of electronic products, as well as the number of select electronic devices entering storage/reuse annually.
This analysis relies primarily on market research data on sales of electronic products. It then applies these sales data to some of the most comprehensive collection information available to estimate product lifespans and the amounts of particular products that are ready for EOL management. From these EOL estimates, we subtract the estimated quantity recycled to yield the quantity disposed. This approach also provides information on the export of CRT monitors and TVs, as well as the amount of selected electronics cumulatively in storage.