Group items tagged

"How To Recycle Your Old Electronics"

"Data left on old computers is a boon for scam artists "

"Oh My Tech: Recycling old computer the right thing to do"

An overview of EMS services for the Semiconductor sector from NBS, focusing on design and manufacturing of evaluation boards, reference platforms, and demonstration products

7/15/09. Article on Trash Track, a project of the MIT SENSEable City lab that uses microprocessors to track the movement of various types of waste through an urban waste stream for the analysis of patterns and assessment of disposal costs. Seattle, WA and NYC are pilot projects in the U.S.; tracking will also occur in London, England in the U.K.

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.

The blog for MIT's SENSEable City Lab Trash Track project.

"To address the information gap on the environmental impacts of leaded and lead-free solders, EPA's DfE Program entered into a voluntary partnership with representatives of the electronics industry and other interested parties to evaluate the environmental impacts of tin-lead and lead-free solders (see the Partners page of this website for more information on project partners). The partnership used a life-cycle assessment approach to examine the impacts of tin-lead, tin-copper, tin-silver-copper, and tin-silver-copper-bismuth solders. " Site includes general project information, milestones, publications and a list of partners.

South Korea's Samsung Electronics has said it will invest $4.3B (£2.6B) as part of an initiative to develop new energy-efficient products and halve carbon emissions from its factories by 2013. The consumer electronics giant today unveiled its Eco-Management 2013 plan, under which it will spend $2.5B on improving the energy efficiency of its products -- including TVs, refrigerators and air conditioning systems -- with a goal of delivering the highest levels of efficiency in the consumer electronics industry. Under the plan, standby power consumption on many products will also be halved from 1W to just half a watt, while the company has said it will work to identify new recyclable and organic materials that could be used in the manufacture of consumer products such as laptops and mobile phones. Meanwhile, $1.8B will be invested in halving greenhouse gas emissions from Samsung manufacturing plants. Article by Yvonne Chan, Greener Computing, 7/20/09.

Gazelle, the online consumer electronics "reCommerce" service, reported it has partnered with Costco to set up the wholesale club's electronics trade-in and recycle program. The Gazelle Electronics Trade-In and Recycle Program involves three simple steps: 1.Visit costco.gazelle.com to determine the value of the electronic device; 2.Ship the item(s) to Gazelle for free; and 3.Receive a Costco Cash Card for the value of the item(s). The program will accept consumer electronics in a growing number of nearly 20 categories including digital cameras, laptops, MP3 players, cell phones and more.

"EPA's DfE Program and the Massachusetts Toxics Use Reduction Institute (TURI) entered into a voluntary partnership with representatives of the wire and cable industry to evaluate the environmental impacts of the current standard material formulations and alternative formulations. Specifically, the partnership used a life-cycle assessment approach to examine the impacts of heat stabilizers, polymer systems and flame retardants used in insulation and jacketing for selected wire and cable products. This information will address the information gap on the environmental impacts of the different materials used in wire and cable insulation, and help companies make environmentally sound product and material choices."

The WEEE Forum's set of remarks on the European Commission's Proposal for a recast of Directive 2002/96/EC on WEEE 24 April 2009. "In this paper, the WEEE Forum seeks to contribute, by providing both expert views and facts and figures, to the discussion on the recast of the Directive. The focus of this issue paper is the newly proposed collection targets and the requirement on member states to finance at least the costs of collection from collection facilities and the treatment, disposal and recovery of WEEE, and to encourage producers to take full ownership of the WEEE collection, in particular by financing the collection of WEEE throughout the whole waste chain including from private households."

Beijing Review article by Ding Wenlei, 7/9/09. "In the eight years after Guiyu became a collection point for electronic waste, Greenpeace China and other green organizations have not stopped urging major waste exporters to cease shipping their detritus to China. At the same time, they have been lobbying the Chinese Government to crack down more effectively on illegal electronic waste recycling. China finally has its own regulation on waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE)-the Regulation on the Administration of the Recovery and Disposal of Waste Electrical and Electronic Products. Announced on February 25, the regulation will hold producers liable for the costs of managing their products at the end of their lifecycles as of January 1, 2011. According to the regulation, China will license large qualified recycling plants and develop a recycling economy to better safeguard the environment and human health. Yet, for environmental organizations, the Chinese Government and licensed recycling plants, it remains an uphill battle to smash the business chain of the illegal recycling of electronic waste."

6/30/09. Wisconsin businesses, institutions, local governments and organizations involved in recycling and refurbishing unwanted electronics have new tools to help them comply with state and federal regulations and plan successful electronics collection events. Includes information & links to a new WDNR guidance document, which ummarizes requirements that have been in effect since 2007 and includes a flow chart to help electronics handlers determine which regulations apply to them. Also includes links to a document providing tips for hosting a successful electronics recycling event.

Proceedings for the Institution of Civil Engineers, Municipal Engineer 162, June 2009, Issue ME2, pages 79-85. Written by J. Ye, S. Kayaga, & I. Smout. This paper provides a situational analysis and discusses the basic elements of the existing legislative framework for e-waste management in China. The paper concludes with an analysis of opportunities and challenges that exist in improving the enabling/regulatory environment for a hazardous but valuable commodity in a fast-growing economy.

From Environmental Leader, 7/6/09. Highlights of IBM's 2008 Corporate Responsibility Report. Includes link to PDF of the report.

Sophie Gerrard photo essay with powerful images of illegal e-waste trade & processing in India.\n\nPossible item for "Media" resources or "Videos/Presentations" if we contact for permission.

Article by June Ng, 6/12/09 edition of HK Magazine. "Every year Hong Kong produces more and more harmful electronic waste, but we only have a voluntary e-waste recycling scheme." Discusses e-waste problem from Hong Kong's perspective; includes some statistics specific for Hong Kong on electronic device use, as well as e-waste generation, recycling and fate.