In this article e-waste governance in the USA will be explored. More specifically, the voluntary collaborative initiatives that are taken at the federal level, in a context where a general regulatory framework is largely absent, will be examined.
China, as the largest producer, consumer and exporter of electrical and electronic (EE) products in the world, is facing great challenges in regulating its growing e-waste as the result of domestic generation and illegal imports from overseas.
New and pending regulations requiring product take-back by manufacturers at the time of disposal are intended to create a new era of industrial ecology and environmental sustainability. However, the intended benefits of the current legislation can be confounded by obsolescence in product design based upon advances in science and technology and also by the introduction of more environmentally benign product designs.
Design for environment cleaner production, extended producer responsibility, standards and labeling, product stewardship, recycling and remanufacturing are some of the practices adopted by various countries around the world to deal with the e-waste stream. An overview of these practices is presented and the manner in which they contribute to the sustainable management of e-waste is discussed.
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.
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.
