The Environmental Justice Movement Of E-Waste In The United States

This paper will discuss what e-waste is, what is happening to the e-waste and why it is a problem. The paper will then discuss what can be done to improve the situation.

As used electronics is becoming a waster hazard worldwide local governments such as where I live include programs at local waste stations purely for electronics. This encourages local residents to freely drop off their electronic waste, like TV’s and computers and mobile phones to these locations where the waste is sorted and than shipped to facilities that can process this waste appropriately which also includes recycling as much material as possible. This has a

Today, with over 7 billion people on Earth, the demand for technology is rising rapidly. As companies work hard to meet demands and mass produce technology for both society and businesses, they release harmful chemicals and gasses which pollute the environment and result in climate changes (Ramey). And not only does the overproduction of technology pollute the air, but it also harms the ground that we stand on. Technotrash, or any broken or unwanted electronic device, is currently the most rapidly-growing type of waste (Green) and according to GreenDisk, a company dedicated towards safely recycling technotrash, over 80% of technotrash is not being recycled. While technotrash represents only 2% of America’s trash in landfills, it equals 70% (emphasis) of overall toxic waste (“11 Facts”) because the toxins in technology can leak into the ground (Anthony). For example, lead from cell phone circuit boards can cause

Alex Lin was one teen activist who saw a problem in e-waste.He was reading an article from the wall street journal, and he saw that there was an e-waste tsunami to come. In the article, it said that Americans discarded more than 112,000 computers daily, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.Even worse, just 18 percent of discarded televisions and computer products were collected for recycling.To stop this he created team W.I.N, {Westerly Innovations Network}.He worked with Metech International to hold a recycling program for e-waste and they collected 21,000 pounds of E-Waste.Then his team saw that it was easier to refurbish the electronics than to recycle them.He worked with his school district to put refurbishing

If you where to ask a small child in Nigeria—"what do you do everyday?" They will most likely answer, "burning e-waste and selling the minerals inside in in." Not an answer you would receive from an American children living in the Untied States. Slowly this kids are being sicken by all the dangerous substances that e-waste contains. Soon this will lead for their bodies to stop growing properly. They will eventually die. Old electronics should not be thrown away, instead recycled. Because it is not healthy for the people in the countries that try to take out the material inside of the e-waste. And because we need tougher laws. Also because you can recycle.

People in developing countries may not be aware of the consequences of waste disposal in their area, as they only consider whether they can get food to survive. Environmental protection is a luxury for them. This may cause deep-rooted and irreversible effects to the countries. Developed cities should help developing countries, but not to increase their burden and exploit their rights.

The pamphlet "Australia's e-waste a ticking time bomb", distributed by an unnamed environmental organisation, serves as both a warning to its readers as well as a useful informative resource on the topic of 'e-waste' - that is, unused technology that has become landfill. The writer adopts an informative yet cautionary tone in an attempt to show readers the urgency with which the problem needs to be addressed. They contend that Australians should aim not to remove technology from their lives altogether, but to seek out ways to be more sustainable users of it. By appealing to readers' concern for the environment and revealing the risks for their own health, the writer seeks to establish fear and, as a result a desire to reduce their own personal

Immediate actions should be taken to better the management of the E-waste productions and the management in the US. Individuals must re-evaluate their decisions when it comes to purchasing products. Instead of constantly buying new electronic devices so you can be updated with the new trends, buy a device that has multiple offerings. That way you would help minimize e-waste by not throwing out your products and help reduce the amount of energy we take from earth. Another action that an individual can take is by extending their use of electronics. One reason why many individuals throw out their devices is because they break it or because their devices have technical problems. By buying a phone case or a laptop case, not only would help keep your device clean but it would also help keep the device safe. Also, individuals should start to avoid overcharging their devices. Not only does overcharging cause technical difficulties but it also consumes so much energy. If we all make these changes we can help overcome our habits of throwing out our products and purchasing new ones. We are the main reason why there are unbelievable amounts of E-waste in developing countries. A collective action must be taken around the world to help recycle and diminish our E-waste as much as

I think that electronic makers should be responsible for disposing of them in an environmentally friendly way. I know there are places that you can drop off old phones at, but they are not many of those locations and not everyone is aware of them. These drop offs are typically to donate the phone that are then given to people in need. In today’s world where everything is so heavily technological, it is important that we learn how to properly dispose of them when they can no longer be used. I am willing to pay more for the item to offset disposal cost, if it means keeping the world a cleaner and safer place. I don’t think it should be a huge increase in cost of the product though, no more than $100. One way to help deter these

The issue that is placed among us, is that we are throwing out too much E waste each year and not recycling enough of it e.g. Australia has one of the highest use of technology, and combining that with one of the fastest growing types of waste is a definite recipe for disaster unless reused or recycled well. One of the main factors of why E waste is so dangerous to the environment is because of the chemicals and toxins that are being release once the electronics have been heated. This is more devastating to us because we have been blessed with such a wonderful place to live in and to ruin it by being inconsiderate to the people and plants around us would be a real shame (En.wikipedia.org, 2017) .

Electronic waste (e-waste) is the fastest growing form of solid waste. Most of the world’s e-waste, 80% to 90% is produced in developed countries and then transferred to developing countries for disposal. Recycling e-waste

Therefore, in order to reduce the amount of e-waste in present day, it is up to individual consumers to begin to realize that their actions have consequences to them. However it is not just up to consumers to be responsible, but it is also up to producers to provide some extended responsibility. That is, people seldom have any incentive to do good in that environmentally conscious owners who want to do the right thing in disposing of their outdate electronics usually must reach into their own pockets to make sure that these machines either find new homes or are recycled properly. Therefore, companies should engage in what Leonard calls, “Producer Takeback,” in which a product and waste management system is created to take responsibility for the safe management of their products when they are no longer useful or discarded. Since the companies have made the product, it should be their responsibility to

In the news review “The Gadget Graveyard”, Matt Wade describes how harsh these conditions are for the workers in India and why this is such a big problem. This source was written in Australia on January 9th, 2016 by Matt Wade and Ashwin Immanuel, who is known for being a South Asia correspondent for the Sydney Morning Herald and Age Newspapers, based in New Delhi. Wade has experience reporting from India and has a first hand viewpoint on this problem. The authors’ purpose is to report on the severity of the human rights being violated and which rights in particular are being infringed upon. This source is valuable to my investigation because it describes in detail everything that is wrong with the e-waste industry right now and how the e-waste industry is taking a toll on human life expectancy and quality of life in general in India. This source is limited because this is a news review coming from a reporter from Australia who has more experience dealing with the news events in South Asia rather than

Our world is constantly changing around us, with technology regularly advancing and improving. ‘Old’ technology and devices are being exchanged for newer objects. These discarded items contain hazardous waste (both to human health and the environment) and more waste is created during the manufacturing process. This creates a vast amount of electronic waste, henceforth referred to as ewaste. The amount of ewaste is growing exponentially; according to the US Environmental Protection Agency an estimate of 5 to 10 percent increase worldwide is expected each year (STEP Initiative). Even more alarming is that only 5% of this amount is being recovered and is properly disposed (STEP Initiative). “Today’s globally interconnected economy ensures that there is no county in the world that does not have a hazardous waste problem” (Basel Convention, Simplified Text). Despite this being a global problem, there are very few international laws concerning the regulation of ewaste, except for the UN Basel Convention and its more recent declarations, instead with countries being left to come up with their own laws. International Laws also contain broad definitions of what constitutes ewaste. The Basel Convention on the Control of Trans-boundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes heralded a new era in international cooperation with regard to dealing in trans-boundary trade in hazardous waste, and also guidelines and regulations to ensure proper disposal by the countries. This paper aims to address

In Pakistan, the computers and other obsolete electronic goods are imported under the pretext of 'second-hand equipment. A small percentage of the items imported are usable. In practice, after removing the working machines and usable parts, the bulk of the consignment is sent to the recycling industry Hundreds of workers, including teenage children, earn their livelihoods by dismantling the electronic scrap and extracting valuable components E-waste has Environmental repercussions of the various highly toxic elements like lead, cadmium, barium, mercury and chromium which are released during the dismantling of these used computers. There is no proper system to recycle and dispose e-waste in Pakistan, which is a serious issue.