Some Surprising Things About Electronic Gadgets

Some Surprising Things About Electronic Gadgets . . . (that you should probably learn)

Some of us spend a surprising amount of time using electronic gadgets. Inevitably, after a few years use, we find that the old things just don’t satisfy our needs and we feel obligated to buy new ones. Then comes a decision – figuring out how to dispose of the outdated gadgets. For some – it’s simple, toss it in the garbage bin. For others like me, it’s a big problem. The size of the problem was driven home after I spent the largest part of today helping to recycle the darned things. The occasion of my labor was our county’s twice-yearly Household Hazardous Waste collection program where two other volunteers and I had the job of carrying unwanted electronic gadgets from resident’s cars to a series of collection boxes and pallets for ultimate recycling. We sorted, carried, and then stacked the unwanted things on one of the two dozen pallets and an equal number of large cardboard boxes that had been designated for the collection. The county’s organizers of the event provided the boxes and pallets for stacking the televisions, telephones, computers, printers and a wide assortment of other electronics. They provided space for the things based on the number of devices collected last fall. This year, the number of boxes and pallets provided were too few by half as the number of thrown-away gadgets vastly exceeded last year’s take.

Although the program was slated to begin at 9:00 AM this morning, I found two vehicles waiting in line as I arrived around 8:30 AM. Those first two dropped off a dozen televisions along with several old computers. That was the beginning and it continued most of the day. It seems that we love our electronic gadgets, but only for a limited time as the size of this year’s collection included at least one old radio console, dozens and dozens of vacuum tube televisions, and scores of the more modern flat screen TV’s, computer monitors, and laptops not to mention DVD’s and a wide assortment of printers, modems and other electronics. By day’s end our drive-through garage was full to overflowing.

Our county recycling program collects resident’s unwanted electronic devices for recycling in an ongoing effort to avoid having the unwanted devices end up in our dwindling landfill space. E-waste, as it is sometimes called, is a growing problem across the nation as the electronics industry continues to pack their products with hazardous materials that none of us want in the ground anywhere near where we live. Toxic heavy metals, such as lead, mercury, cadmium and beryllium are common to electronic devices with smaller amounts of copper, silver and even gold found in some devices. The gadgets are a nightmare to recycle. Containing hundreds and sometimes thousands of parts, the materials can be recycled but they are a bugger to get at as they are small and accessible only after complete disassembly with their myriad fastening systems keeping them in place.

Handling unwanted waste is not a new problem. The most egregious example of the problem occurred some years ago as the City of Philadelphia tried to deal with 14,000 tons of ash that was generated after the city incinerated its waste.  They contracted with a shipper who planned to transport the ash by ship and then dump it in the Bahamas. The Bahamian Government refused to allow the ship to enter their port. The ship then tried the Dominican Republic, Honduras, and Panama, finally getting permission to dump 4,000 pounds of ‘topsoil fertilizer’ in Haiti. The Haitians got wise to the scheme, but the ship slipped out of the harbor before that part of the ash could be reloaded. The ship next went to Europe to find some other place to dump the remaining 10,000 pounds of ash, changing the ship’s name several times in an effort to hide the cargo identity. Finally, the ship left Europe to return to the United States, illegally dumping the ash into the Indian Ocean while enroute. Ahh, the rigors of handling unwanted waste.

The US followed by China are the world’s largest generators of E-waste. It has been reported that 40 million tons of E-waste was generated in the US in 2011 but something over 90 million tons was generated a mere five years later. Where is all that waste going? Sadly, many consumers pitch old TV’s and computers into the garbage where it ends up in a landfill, silently waiting for our children and grandchildren to deal with it. Estimates vary, but some say 70% of E-waste currently ends up in landfills.

The EPA seems unable to deal effectively with the issue especially with the current administration and its bent towards de-regulation. Individual states have taken up the issue instead. Some 25 state legislatures, including Michigan, have adopted legislation covering E-waste, but even those that have rules seem to have little effect as I see many of my neighbors leaving old TV’s at the curbside for the garbage man to pick up. The obvious solution to today’s E-waste problem is to recycle and I urge everyone to participate. I plan to volunteer again this fall in helping collect the old stuff so that I can enjoy my electronic gadgets without feeling guilty about disposing of them. Maybe I’ll see you there.  

The US followed by China are the world’s largest generators of E-waste. It has been reported that 40 million tons of E-waste was generated in the US in 2011 but something over 90 million tons was generated a mere five years later. Where is all that waste going? Sadly, many consumers pitch old TV’s and computers into the garbage where it ends up in a landfill, silently waiting for our children and grandchildren to deal with it. Estimates vary, but some say 70% of E-waste currently ends up in landfills.

The EPA seems unable to deal effectively with the issue especially with the current administration and its bent towards de-regulation. Individual states have taken up the issue instead. Some 25 state legislatures, including Michigan, have adopted legislation covering E-waste, but even those that have rules seem to have little effect as I see many of my neighbors leaving old TV’s at the curbside for the garbage man to pick up. The obvious solution to today’s E-waste problem is to recycle and I urge everyone to participate. I plan to volunteer again this fall in helping collect the old stuff so that I can enjoy my electronic gadgets without feeling guilty about disposing of them. Maybe I’ll see you there.