1. Sustainable Electronics Unit Module 3
Eric Williams
Ramzy Kahhat
Soumya Poduri
Sustainable Electronics Unit: Module 3
Time Required: 30 minutes
Audience: High School

2. What is e-waste? Electronic waste = e-waste.
Unwanted equipment by consumer, now what?
Manufactured and sold to consumer
Electronic equipment used by consumer
Electronic waste = e-waste.
Electronic and electrical equipment deemed obsolete or unwanted by a user
Includes some equipment that will be reused via secondary markets
What is e-waste?
E-waste or electronic waste is electronic or electrical equipment that is deemed obsolete or unwanted by the user.
Equipment that is obsoleted by the user can be of reuse potential if the equipment is in working condition.

3. What happens to e-waste?
Possible Paths: 1. regular garbage can -> trash truck -> landfill 2. Recycling drop off (e.g. Goodwill) -> network of recycling plants -> recycled materials 3. Auctioned/sold -> broker -> shipped overseas -> reused and sold 4. Auctioned/sold -> broker -> shipped overseas -> recycled informally
What happens to e-waste after it is obsoleted by the user? The user can choose one of four different ways to deal with their obsoleted equipment which can ultimately lead to different end of life scenarios.
Path 1: The user can choose to throw their e-waste with their regular trash. This trash then gets picked up by a trash truck and ultimately ends in a landfill.
Path 2: The user can choose to drop their unwanted electronics at a recycling drop off. These are then sent off to a network of recycling plants in North America where they are recycled for materials.
Path 3: The user can choose to sell or auction their items. The items that are sold/auctioned can either be reused locally or shipped overseas and reused. The items could also be shipped overseas and recycled informally.
Path 4: The user can choose to store the items either at home or at an off-site location.

4. Path 1: Landfill
Pros: easy, inexpensive Cons: no reuse, recycling, potential leaking of harmful materials if landfill liner breaks
Let’s look at each path in further detail. Landfilling electronics is an easy and inexpensive option but also has a few disadvantages. The chance of reusing or recycling the equipment is lost and there is a potential for harmful materials to leach into the groundwater if the landfill liner breaks.

5. Path 2: Materials recycled in North America
Pros: popular, good recovery of materials Cons: relatively expensive, less reuse
Recycling materials in North America is a popular option and is a good way to recover materials. But this option is relatively expensive and does not promote reuse of obsoleted equipment.

6. An electronics recycling plant in Austria
Austria . Source: National Geographic 2008

7. Path 3: Exported and reused
Pros: makes profit, provides jobs, inexpensive equipment to poor people Cons: what about unusable equipment?
When equipment is exported and reused it makes profit and provides employment opportunities. It also provides access to inexpensive equipment to poor people.

8. The Repair and Reuse “Culture”
Toshiba Satellite 2530CDS for MXN$ 800 (USD$ 63)
Resellers of electronic parts
Repair and reuse culture is embedded in the developing world. This is a win-win situation which extends the life-span of electronics while providing employment and access to inexpensive technology to the local people.
Pictures are from repair and reuse markets in Mexico

9. Reuse of electronic equipment in Mexico

10. Lagos-Nigeria. Source: National Geographic 2008
Used electronic market in Africa
Lagos-Nigeria. Source: National Geographic 2008

11. Access to computers and education
Used computers in a classroom in Brazil
Belen, Para, Brazil. Source: Digital Inclusion

12. Path 4: Exported to developing world and “informal” recycling
Pros: makes profit, provides jobs Cons: serious environmental problems
Accra-Ghana. Source: National Geographic 2008
Equipment that is exported can also be used to made a quick buck by informally processing the equipment to extract materials.
In the picture above wires are being burnt to extract copper in Ghana.
Though this path is profitable and can provide jobs, it can also cause serious environmental problems and pose hazardous health concerns for the “informal recyclers”.

13. Informal recycling processes
Circuit boards treated with acid, cyanide to recover copper and gold in Delhi, India
Open burning of plastic encased wires to recover copper in Guiyu, China
More examples of informal recycling from the developing world
Photos by Basel Action Network, 2002 and A. Jain 2007

14. China. Source: BAN and SVTC 2002

15. What paths happen? All four happen, depending on situation
Key drivers:
Societal trend towards more recycling
Economically exporting electronics runs a profit, treating domestically generally a net cost
The key point to remember is that all four paths happen depending on the situation. The primary drivers which dictate which path happens are the general trend towards recycling and the economic viability of exporting electronics.

16. How does society respond?
Current policies/regulations:
Legislate domestic recycling programs (some U.S. states, European Union, some countries)
Ban landfilling of electronics
Ban exportation of e-waste from developed to developing countries (European Union, not U.S.)
Make informal recycling illegal (China)
From the previous slides it is evident that all possible paths have its advantages and disadvantages. And some of the paths have been in the limelight due to the environmental hazards associated with them. Informal recycling has driven our current policies and regulations.

17. Problems with current responses
Loss of reuse, access to equipment
Loss of employment abroad
Challenge to enforce, widespread violations
Part of ASU research project involves development of alternatives
Here are some of the problems associated with our current policies and regulations. Our team at ASU is involved in the development of alternatives to these policies which mitigate the negative effects of the policies.