Essay on E-Waste Recycling

In the article, “From Gadget to Garbage: Tackling The Problem of Discarded Technology” from the Orange County Register, the NewsELA staff states, “No one is sure how much e-waste ends up being exported from the U.S., the EPA says, but “the United States government is concerned that these exports are being mismanaged abroad, causing serious public health and environmental hazards.” The quote explains that by exporting e-waste incorrectly, public health and the environment are being put at risk. The quoted statement implies that e-waste shouldn’t be exported and should stay in it’s country, for public health and environmental safety. When the author uses the word, “mismanaged” it means the incorrect handling of things, which in the article the

Giles Slade stated, “E-waste represents 2% of America's trash in landfills, but it equals 70% of overall toxic waste” (Slade, 2015). Electronic waste is extremely harmful on the environment and contaminates the water we drink, the air we breathe, and the soil we grow our vegetables in. Electronics contain high amounts of heavy metals, which are extremely toxic to all forms of life. According to GreenPeace, “it is estimated that 10-20 percent of discarded computers go to landfill” (GreenPeace, 2009). With our technology constantly advancing, we begin to find that e-waste continues to grow at an exponential rate. Many people want the newest and best technology, which leads to the older electronics being tossed out. Instead of individuals taking their old electronics to be recycled though, they tend to throw it in the waste bin and it doesn’t get the proper disposal it needs. According to GreenPeace, “it is estimated that 10-20 percent of discarded computers go to landfill” (GreenPeace, 2009). That percentage is a pretty hefty, especially when 60 Minutes estimates that “130,000 computers are thrown out every day” (CBS, 2008). With that estimate and percentage, anywhere from 13,000 to 26,000 computers are thrown out every day and not properly

Electronics Recycling. Electronic recycling is one consideration the company can do better with. Recycling in general lowers greenhouse gas emissions that are caused by manufacturing items for the first time. Recycling electronics conserves natural resources making cleaner air and water. The valuable resources computers and electronic components carry are metals, plastics, and glass. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), recycling a million laptops would give back enough energy for 3500 American homes’ electricity. A million cell phones would could yield 35,000 pounds of copper, 772 pounds of silver, 75 pounds of gold, and 33 pounds of palladium. Instead of throwing out the old computers and blackberry’s, the company could simply upgrade the hardware or software and then recycle the parts necessary.

E-waste or electronic waste is the number 1 fastest growing trash in the united states since 2004. E-waste is made up of lead, mercury, , and caldium. All of these Acids are deadly to the human body. Alex lin and many other teen activists work with these acids every day. Also, These activists are trying to stop these deadly acid from seeking into the ground and killing natural resources. These acids can also get into the water systems and harm people. When you get a new electronic you would most likely through it out in the TRASH, but you should recycle old electronics. According to the Electronic recycling 101 article, 3 million tons of electronic are trough out and only 13.6 of them are recycled. This shows that many people are unaware of

The MacBook Pro, is a laptop that allows you to perform many functions. Functions include doing school work to browse the internet, paying bills, shop online, etc. The MacBook strikingly makes our lives easier and is relevant to the consumer's daily life operations. Yet an externality, which is defined as, “an unintended and uncompensated loss or gain in the welfare of one party resulting from an activity of another party.”(Leonard, 2007). Additionally, Apple products are extremely high in costs; the expense is not just deducted from our pocketbooks but far extends to the damage that is imposed on our natural environment. Apple advertisements distract consumers from understanding potential detrimental impacts on the environment, as for they

Attention Getter:     Most of the people present here today probably recycle; some more than others. And probably, most people assume that they are saving natural resources and helping the environment. However, this is not always true.

Alex Lin recycles electronics, when he was in 5th grade he read a magazine and realized that he should do something about it. After he read about it he has seen a lot of people wasting and throwing away electronics. With that problem, he took some of his friends and decided to create a website. Ever seen then people been aware of throwing away electronics. He is now 16 years old and he overseen the recycling of 300,000 pounds of e-waste. Also, he helped create 7 media centers around the

This shows that Alex Lin is resourceful. According to research,”E-waste, or electronics garbage, is the fastest growing section of the U.S. trash stream. In 2007, Americans discarded more than 112,000 computers daily,...” After he read an article in The Wall Street Journal he told his friends about the problem and started to help by refurbishing computers. Lin knew that the chemicals inside of electronics are bad for the environment, because the chemicals were bad for the environment. In 2007 Americans discarded 112,000 computer daily. Lin and his friend took a field trip to the State House and tried to pass a bill that it is illegal to throw away computer but sadly it did not pass because they did not want it to pass, and they did not think that it was important.. Even though they had worked so hard it felt like they hadn’t listened. Eventually Alex Lin did get the bill passed because the problem was getting too big and now it is illegal to throw away electronics in Rhode Island and today Alex Lin has seven center around the world helping the

E-waste is when people are done with things like computers, phones, etc. and throw them away. Shortly after reading the article, Alex decided to take a stand. Alex got help from his community service group. They spread the message about e-waste. This gave people a chance to recycle and refurbish the electronics instead. In the later years, when Alex was around 16- years old, a law was passed to confirm that you weren't allowed to throw e-waste into Rhode Island. Alex Lin´s law quickly took over, and started improving the problem of

Americans have yet to face the unnerving reality of the fact that “in 2008 only 7.1% of the 30.05 million tons of plastic waste in America was recycled” (Linn). This low percentage is shocking, outrageous, and should terrify the American public, but this number can change. Recycling is not just a feel good experience; it is a way to help save energy, space, and money. However, with the enormous amount of trash being thrown out each year, landfills are increasing in size creating numerous issues. The staggering amount of waste increases greenhouse gases, contributing to global warming and building up dangerous toxins that sink underground into our soil and water, overflows into wildlife habitats and oceans, and costs a large amount of money to remove. By fining residents who incorrectly dispose of recyclable goods, implementing recycling as a requirement in educational institutions and other business and residential settings, categorizing the

The United States of America has come a long way since its inception. The development of homes, cars, technologies, goods, and services has evolved. Also, the way in which Americans consume has drastically changed. And with all these great things, came solid waste generation, and unfortunately not methods for disposing of it in an environmentally friendly manner. The United States is the top trash-producing country in the world at over 1,600 pounds per person per year. Although the U.S. accounts for 5% of the world’s population, it generates 40% of the world’s waste. According to the Environmental Protection Agency’s Municipal Solid Waste Generation, Recycling, and Disposal in the United States: Facts and Figures for 2010 “Americans generated about 250 million tons of trash and recycled and composted over 85 million tons of materials, resulting in 34.1 percent recycling rate. On average, each American generates about 4.43 pounds of waste each day. Only 1.51 pounds of that material were recycled and composed” (EPA, 2010).

The co founders observed different practices made by the people i.e. they did not try to recycle or sell their electronic devices. Rather they would just leave

Apple is committed to maintaining the highest standards, for both environmental responsibility and ethical conducts. They follow strict

The company started off as “Apple Computer,” best known for its Macintosh personal computers (PCs) in the 1980’s and 1990’s. Despite a strong brand, rapid growth, and high profits in the late 1980s, Apple almost went bankrupt in 1996 (Kim & Yoffie, 2010, p.1). This can be explained that Apple has become larger and more significant than other competitors put together in 1980. Because Apple failed to innovate in 1996, the company almost went bankruptcy but eventually Steve Jobs took Apple from bad situation to the company that can make billions of dollars through promoted itself as a hip alternative to other computer brands. Apple highlighted its computers as the world’s “greenest lineup of notebooks” that were energy efficient and used recyclable materials. The goal was to differentiate the Macintosh amid intense competition in the PC industry (Kim & Yoffie, p.4).

This was largely seen as a response to a Greenpeace-led campaign. Now, Greenpeace was at it again, calling Apple out for taking a step backwards when it came to the toxic chemicals found in the iPhone (Riley, 2007). These chemicals also included Bromine, which had been banned in European toys thanks to its apparent impact on hormone levels in children. Greenpeace claimed that Apple was far from leading the way for a green electronics compared with its competitors, like Nokia, who hasd already sold phones free of Polyvinyl chloride (Stevens, 2007). Based on these findings it was hard to doubt that Apple took a step back from its green initiative to get the iPhone out the door. However, it was questioned whether the company would respond to this Greenpeace challenge like it did the last.