60 Minutes: Electronic Wasteland

60 Minutes: The Electronic Wasteland

                “E-Waste” has become a large issue!  130,000 computers and 100,000,000 cell phones are thrown away in the US every year.  Recyclers that say they are recycling the products they receive “properly”. In reality there are thousands of containers being shipped to the Far East to either be stripped down for high value parts such as the precious metals in cell phones. The remainders of CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) screens and other electronic devices are just thrown into massive piles in fields. It is truly appalling that impoverished people are being exploited for this work because they need the money to survive even though they were destroying the same environment they live in.

·         If the plastics that make up products such as monitors, computers or cell phones were made from biodegradable plastics, such as Polyanhydrides, the excess materials that cannot be recycled would be broken down in landfills and not harm the environment.

·         To recycle items such as lead from CRT screens, there should be a certified and monitored facility that filters the harmful chemicals and particles out of the air as they are recycled.

·         Put a responsibility on the manufacture to recycle their product at the end of the life cycle. If there is a refundable fee to the consumer when the product no longer works, the item can be recycled and disposed of properly.