UN OUTLINES GLOBAL-E-WASTE GOAL

[Anonymous]

UN outlines global e-waste goals
The UN has launched a global initiative to tackle the growing mountain of electrical and electronic waste.
The
private-public partnership hopes to create a global recycling standard,
extend the life of products and improve the market for second-hand
goods.The world’s annual volume of “e-waste” is expected to exceed 40m
tonnes in the near future, the UN estimates.Companies that have signed
up to the scheme include Microsoft, Ericsson, Hewlett-Packard (HP) and
Dell.”The global materials flow of electronic and electrical equipment
requires a global approach,” explained Ruediger Kuehr, executive
secretary of the UN project, called Solving the E-Waste Problem (StEP).
    
HAZARDOUS WASTE
1: Lead in cathode ray tube and solder
2: Arsenic in older cathode ray tubes
3: Antimony trioxide as flame retardant
4: Polybrominated flame retardants in plastic casings, cables and circuit boards
5: Selenium in circuit boards as power supply rectifier
6: Cadmium in circuit boards and semiconductors
7: Chromium in steel as corrosion protection
8: Cobalt in steel for structure and magnetism
9: Mercury in switches and housing

He
said growth in the consumption of goods and devices around the world
meant the problem would only get worse if left unchecked.”Just look at
places such as China and India; in all of these transitional countries,
the demand for electrical and electronic devices is exploding,” Mr
Kuehr observed.The decreasing cost of replacing computers, mobile
phones and other gadgets, and the speed with which technology goes out
date, has resulted in more and more devices ending up on the
scrap-heap.The European Environment Agency has calculated that the
volume of e-waste is rising about three times faster than any other
form of municipal waste.If not disposed of properly, e-waste can result
in toxic substances seeping in soil and groundwater, harming the local
environment and people’s health.

‘Informal’ recycling
Klaus
Hieronymi, business environment manager for HP, said the initiative
would address the environmental and health concerns.The main problems
were in developing nations in Asia, Africa and South America, where
“informal” recycling networks operated, he added.”Basically, people are
going round collecting PCs, printers and fridges, and take them home
into their backyard.”They earn money by dismantling the products,
salvaging parts, and removing precious metals.”But they lacked proper
skills and equipment, leaving themselves and the local environment
exposed to harmful substances, he warned.”For example,” Mr Hieronymi
explained, “burning salvaged cables to expose copper wires, rather than
using machines to cut away the casing, results in toxic fumes being
emitted.”Mr Ruediger said that a team of Swiss researchers, who were
part of the StEP partnership, were providing training for the
recyclers.”It is in order to make people aware of what they are doing
and the impact on their environment and on their health.”

Raising awareness
In
industrialised nations and established markets, the initiative will
focus on making consumers aware of the consequences of throwing away
equipment that still works.Taskforces will help shape government
policies and look at concerns surrounding products’ design, life
expectancy and recyclability.And the UN initiative will build on the
framework set up under the EU’s Waste Electrical and Electronic
Equipment (WEEE) Directive.The directive requires producers to bear the
cost of the collection, recovery and disposal of devices no longer
wanted by consumers.”It will challenge companies to improve the design
and performance of their goods,” Mr Ruediger predicted.As well as
involving leading manufacturers of electronic goods, the taskforces
will also include academics, government officials and NGOs.The
long-term goal of the initiative is to develop a global standard for
recycling, and improve the collection and recycling of e-waste.StEP’s
secretariat will be hosted by the United Nations University in Bonn,
Germany. 

[Author]

March 7, 2007 at 11:49 AM