About e-waste

What is e-waste?

E-waste is any electric or electronic equipment that is no longer working, has been superseded by a new model, or the owner no longer has a use for it. With 'planned obsolescence' of mobile phones and the price of new computers on the decrease, we are upgrading at an alarming rate.

It's estimated that in 2010 more than 2.1 million computers will enter the Australian market, while 3 million will reach their 'end-of-life' and need to be disposed off safely.

Why is e-waste such a problem?

The issue of e-waste is relatively new to the world, given the digital age only began to take off with the invention of the world wide web in 1989. The idea of 'socially responsible recycling' is still catching on and the idea of how to dispose of our e-waste is something most of us don't think about.

The problem is that when we do need to get rid of a computer or TV, we tend to look for the cheapest and quickest option. However, the e-waste recycler who offers to take your e-waste cheaply or for free may be the one who is shipping your e-waste overseas and that's bad news.

Even in this age of information, e-waste from the developed world is still being dumped in countries whose rules about e-waste are more relaxed. This often means it will arrive in a third-world country where it will have direct and devastating effects on the environment and the people who are making a very small living recycling it for us.

Why can't e-waste just go into landfill?

There are three main reasons why recycling e-waste is important:

1. Conservation: Recycling means we can recover and reuse the earth's precious finite resources, such as copper, lead, iron, gold, and silver etc. Before recycling we were dumping items, containing these valuable non-renewable resources, into landfill and mining for new resources to produce new items.
2. Health: E-waste is toxic and when it is dumped in the ground as landfill, these toxins can leach into the ground, ground-water and streams and cause harm to human health and the environment. By recycling we are looking after the health of plants, animals and people. Recycling provides for the safe removal of toxic substances that pollute the environment. The materials of main concern are lead, cadmium, brominated flame retardants, mercury and PVC plastic.
3. Sharing: Some of the e-waste that comes to be recycled is still useful. A percentage of PCs and laptops that others have no use for can be refurbished for marginalised individuals and groups who would otherwise be excluded from participating in the digital age!

What kinds of resources are recovered from e-waste?

The recycling of a computer can recover many of the materials that were used in the manufacturing process. The main material components of a Personal Computer are: Silica (24.8%), Plastics (23 % ), Iron (20.47 %), Aluminium (14.17%), Copper (6.9%), Lead (6.3%), Zinc (2.2%) [1].

Trace Elements of value are Gold (0.0016%) and Silver (0.0189%) [1].

Primary production of materials from natural resources provides manufacturing industries with many of its requirements. Recycling provides a strong secondary source of valuable materials and reduces the amount of disposable refuse that goes into landfill.

[1] Australian Government - Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts. "Waste and recycling"

Australian Government E-Waste Legislation Progress

For information on the National Television and Computer Product Stewardship Scheme, visit the Australian Government Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities website.

Subscribe to the National Television and Computer Product Stewardship Scheme E-bulletin for up to date information about the development and implementation of the national collection and recycling scheme.

The Story of Electronics