Electronic waste is toxic.

• Electronic products contain metals and plastics that are hazardous to humans and the environment if they are not properly handled.
• These toxic substances include lead, mercury, cadmium, PCB’s, silicon, arsenic, chromium, barium, brominated flame retardants and PVC plastics that release dioxin.
• Each television or computer monitor can contain as much as eight pounds of lead.
• When electronic waste is put in landfills or incinerated, these toxic substances are released in to the air, soil, and water.

Electronic waste is a growing problem.

• The U.S. generates 5-7 million tons of electronic waste each year.
• Over 20 million personal computers became obsolete in 1998. Only 13 percent were reused or recycled.
• The average personal computer becomes “obsolete” in about two years.
• Each year the U.S. generates 5-7 million tons of electronic waste. About 2 percent of this is recycled, 30 percent is stored, and the rest ends up in a landfill.
• As the telecommunications industry changes from analogue to digital, high-definition television and audio standards, consumers will be forced to buy new equipment, and will need a way to dispose of their old equipment.

People want to recycle their electronic waste.

• In Ohio the Cuyahoga County Solid Waste District collected 161 tons of old computers at two events in April and August of 2001. The events were so popular that the district is now planning recycling drives for old televisions and other electronic equipment.
• In Rhode Island, the state’s Resource Recovery Corporation sponsored drop-off collections on two back-to-back Saturdays, in which 87 tons of unwanted computers were collected. Thousands of the state’s residents waited up to an hour in wintry weather to recycle computers. The state officials were so impressed by the turnout that they began a permanent program, with collections at a central location on the last Saturday of every month.
• Almost 80% of those surveyed in Massachusetts said they were willing to pay a small fee in order to recycle a TV or computer.

We don’t have a good way to deal with electronic waste.

• Currently, individual consumers and small businesses may dispose of electronic waste as if it were regular trash.
• Most electronic waste is probably in storage, since many consumers are not sure how to dispose of it.
• Landfilling or incinerating electronic waste puts us all at risk because of the toxic compounds the waste releases.
• Exporting electronic waste to other countries is unfair and environmentally irresponsible.

Companies should take responsibility for their products.

• Manufacturers should participate in safely managing discarded electronic equipment.
• Around 97% of a computer can be recycled. Electronics don’t have to end up as waste – we should think of them as valuable and reusable.
• Extended producer responsibility for electronic waste will encourage producers to phase out or recycle toxic components of electronics.
• Consumers should know what’s in the products they buy, and how to safely dispose of them.