Electronic waste, e-waste, e-scrap, and Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) are all described as discarded, surplus, obsolete, or broken electrical or electronic devices.
The Consumer Electronics Association says that an average U.S. household spends $1,400 annually on an average of twenty-four electronic items, leading to millions of tons of valuable and/or dangerous metals sitting on desks and in desk drawers in homes and offices or thrown into landfills. The U.S. National Safety Council estimates that 75% of all personal computers ever sold are now gathering dust as surplus electronics.
The Problem
The EPA estimates that unwanted electronics totaled 2 million tons in 2005 and 2.37 million tons in 2009 (http://www.epa.gov/osw/conserve/materials/ecycling/faq.htm#howmuch). This number is continuing to increase. Discarded electronics represent five to six times as much weight as recycled electronics. When e-waste finds its way into the regular waste stream, or is sent to developing countries to be processed, it causes serious health and pollution problems. E-waste contains toxic materials such as lead, cadmium, beryllium, and brominated flame retardants. Workers are often insufficiently protected from exposure to these contaminants through improper disposal and processing techniques (including burning and dismantling for valuable components). These pose significant safety and environmental risks. In the United States, e-waste represents only 2% of the trash in landfills but an estimated 70% of heavy metals found in landfill come from the e-waste that is mixed in with the other trash.