Electronics
Over the past few decades, high tech manufacturers have produced millions of electronic products that have provided greater efficiency, convenience, and productivity to human endeavors. Unfortunately, what is less known is that production, use and disposal of electronic products has a broad range of adverse environmental and human health impacts.
The increasingly short life span of electronic products and the design for disposal have led to a waste crisis at the end of life.
- Only 15% of electronic products are collected for recycling in the USA. In most states it is still legal to throw toxic electronic products into the trash
- In 2009, 250 million computers became obsolete.
- 70% to 80% computers dropped off at recycling points in the USA end up as hazardous exports to China and other Asian and African countries.
The use of hazardous chemicals in electronics products creates human health problems and environmental degradation in factories and recycling sites in both the industrialized and developing world.
The good news is that with global corporate and government commitment to adopt systematic changes like producer take back of products, green design and increased reuse and recyclability of materials, we can solve this problem. CPA is working to:
- Establish producer take back for all electronic products
- Promote green design to improve the ecological footprint of electronic products
