Title: What Can We Do About the Growing E-waste Problem?
Headings: What Can We Do About the Growing E-waste Problem?
General Earth Institute
What Can We Do About the Growing E-waste Problem?
Why the upsurge in e-waste?
What’s in e-waste?
The state of e-waste recycling
What U.S. laws govern e-waste?
A problem requiring multiple solutions
Designing better products
The right to repair
Extended Producer Responsibility
More convenient recycling
Better recycling
The goal of a circular economy
What you can do about e-waste
Resources
60 Minutes: The Wasteland (e-waste in China)
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Content: baselactionnetwork
Usually they do not wear protective equipment and lack any awareness that they are handling dangerous materials. Research has found that inhaling toxic chemicals and direct contact with hazardous e-waste materials (even in some formal e-waste recycling settings) result in increases in spontaneous abortions, stillbirths, premature births, reduced birth weights, mutations, congenital malformations, abnormal thyroid function, increased lead levels in blood, decreased lung function, and neurobehavioral disturbances. Moreover, e-waste toxins contaminate the air, soil and groundwater. In the face of these health and environmental hazards, however, many people in developing countries earn a living by dismantling, refurbishing, repairing and reselling used electronic devices. Guiyu, China is often considered the e-waste capital of the world, with 75 percent of households involved in the recycling business. Informal recycling is also practiced in India, Nigeria, Ghana and the Philippines. In addition to its health hazards, informal recycling can pose security risks, because while formal recyclers in the U.S. usually require wiping devices clean of data, informal recycling does not. Agbogbloshie, Ghana. Photo: marlenanapoli
Criminals search e-waste for credit card numbers and other financial information.