Opinion: Why environmental groups are wrong about e-waste

Computerworld - Environmental groups like the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition, Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace, among others, have been in the news lately, chiding gadget makers in general and Apple in particular for bad environmental policies. They're bringing attention to the growing mountains of toxic PCs, cell phones, iPods and other electronics in landfills and pushing governments for "green" regulation.

This problem is real, and I applaud these and dozens of other organizations that are working to make a difference. But their prescriptions for consumer action -- what they want you and me to do about e-waste -- is actually bad for the environment. I'll tell you why in a minute. I'll also outline a superior alternative to the recycling they are demanding. But first, let's review the problem.

The trouble with e-trash

Consumer Reports says Americans threw away about 3 million tons of electronics in 2003. Some 700 million cell phones have already been thrown away worldwide, with 130 million disposed of in 2005 alone.

Worse, this stuff is toxic. Old-school CRT monitors and TVs average about 6 pounds of poisonous lead, which is the leading source of this toxic substance in landfills. Most PCs and electronic gadgets contain circuit boards packed with toxic metals like chromium, zinc and nickel. Even the plastics contain toxic flame-retardant chemicals.

A recent report by researchers at the University of California at Irvine analyzed the chemical brew that leaches out of cell phones in a landfill and found toxic lead, copper, nickel, antimony and zinc all creating a serious hazard. Consumer Reports says that only 10% of discarded PCs are recycled "responsibly."

About 80% of discarded electronics is currently sent to a handful of developing countries like China, India and Kenya, where people (including small children) dismantle the gadgets for parts and metals. The work is dangerous and low-paying, and greatly increases life-threatening water and soil pollution in those countries and air pollution globally. Forthcoming laws in most industrialized countries will effectively ban this practice. We're going to have to deal with our own toxic e-waste problem in the future, and we won't be able to just export the problem.

But what should we do about it?

The trouble with environmental groups

The Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition, Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace and other organizations push recycling hard. They want you to participate either in the "take-back" programs offered by Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Apple and others, or find a recycler to take your e-junk.

However, this overemphasis on recycling fails to take advantage of the special nature of electronic equipment. Gadgets are completely different from other products that we recycle. Worse, pushing recycling is actually hurting the environment, and I call on all these groups to rethink their obsession with recycling, at least in this particular matter.