E-WASTE
What is it?
Electronic waste, or e-waste, includes electronic goods such as phones,
televisions, stereos, computers, and printers. E-waste is world's fastest
growing form of garbage – Department of Environmental Protection
Interesting Facts:
 Recycling one million desktop computers prevents the release of greenhouse
gases equivalent to the annual emissions of 16,000 passenger cars - EPA
 By recycling 100 million cell phones, approximately 7,500 pounds of gold could
be recovered - allowing that amount of gold to go into new products. Recovering
the gold from cell phones, rather than mining it from the earth, would prevent
12,000,000,000 pounds of loose soil, sand, and rock from having to be moved,
mined, and processed - EPA
 Americans buy approximately 3,000,000 dry cell batteries every year. On
average, each person in the United States discards eight dry-cell batteries per
year – EPA
 It is estimated that out of 8.7 million tons of e-waste, only 2.1 million tons are
recycled – Earth911.com
 Electronics can contain mercury, lead, cadium, brominated flame retardants,
arsenic and PVC which become toxic when chemicals leach into ground water.
This typically occurs when electronics are placed in a landfill – Earth911.com
E-cycling Information:
http://www.epa.gov/osw/conserve/materials/ecycling/index.htm
E-waste Recycling Center Procedures:
http://www.applesource.com.au/photos/soa/Australia-s-giant-e-wasterecycling-centre-Photos/0,2000068552,339293389-1s,00.htm