Global: e-Waste – Recycle or Reuse? · Global Voices
Elena Ignatova

Today, numerous households and businesses are constantly creating great amounts of e-waste (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment, or WEEE) and this presents environmental and health threats, as these devices are compiled of toxic substances.
‘WEEE-man’ at  London South Bank, by Flickr user polymer808, under Creative Commons Attribution License
According to StEP (Solving the e-Waste Problem),
E-waste is a term used to cover almost all types of electrical and electronic equipment that has or could enter the waste stream. Although e-waste is a general term, it can be often considered to cover TV’s, computers, mobile phones, white goods (fridges, washing machines, dryers etc.), home entertainment and stereo systems, toys, toasters, kettles – almost any household or business item with circuitry or electrical components with power or battery supply.
Rapid product innovations and replacement, especially in ICT and office equipment, combined with the lower prices for many electrical goods, are escalating the problem with e-waste.
e-Waste management can be divided into reuse or recycling of the old equipment.
Tony Roberts highlights the magnitude of the problem on his blog, Laptop Burns. He writes:
[…] We are creating a toxic time-bomb of over 20 billion items of eWaste that demands our urgent attention. The UN estimates that in 2009 that there were 4.6 billion mobile phones in use worldwide (http://bit.ly/qtwGU). According to World Bank World Development Indicators there were 2.6 billion radios in use in 2005 (http://bit.ly/1KW5U6) and 2 billion TVs (http://bit.ly/1KW5U6). Gartner Research shows that there are now over 1 billion computers in use worldwide (http://bit.ly/uxy68). These volumes are rising rapidly: we now produce and consume over 1 billion additional mobile phones every year. The size of this problem is unprecedented.
[…]
Fortunately there is no mystery about how to end eWaste. We must reduce the carbon footprint of mining and manufacture and reduce the toxics used in the production of EEE. We must agree a common policy framework internationally to promote reuse of working EEE, and recycle all of our own WEEE as well as outlawing the dumping and export of eWaste. And we must enforce the Polluter Pays Principle.
Haley Bowcock discusses reusing old equipment as an alternative to recycling:
[…] There is huge scope for reusing unwanted ICTs, as they are often replaced long before the end of their productive lives, due to rapid product innovation and consumer desires for the latest model. Unwanted ICTs, however, often end up in landfill or enter recycling chains. While there are environmental and human health benefits to safely the recycling end-of-life electronics, these are less pronounced for unwanted ICTs that are yet to reach the end of their productive lives. In fact, empirical research has indicated that reusing a computer is up to 20 times more energy efficient than recycling it.
So, reuse should be promoted and where shown to be the most beneficial waste management option, like with ICT equipment and many other unwanted consumer items, maximised. Fortunately, there are recent developments that suggest reuse may be getting the recognition it deserves. […]
She also links to a special report, Why Reuse is Better Than Recycling, by Computer Aid International, which lists several key findings and recommendations:
Key findings:
Recommendations:
To realise the many benefits of reuse, various stakeholders involved in the management of end-of-life ICTs (and other e-wastes) need to ensure the following:
In the post titled Where Do I Recycle My Old Electronics?, on the Sustainable Electronics Initiative blog, Aida Sefic Williams published a link to Electronic Take-Back and Donation Programs, and gave links to the websites where those who want to recycle could erase personal information from cell phones and computers.
What do you do with your old equipment?