Reducing the global impact of e-waste
dre amstime
have come a long way since BAN’s Exporting Harm report in 2002. Manufacturers are now competing Workers in makeshift operations in (RFID) tags to provide information to be viewed as green, and they want Asia expose themselves and the enabout the condition and composito remove as many toxic chemicals vironment to toxic chemicals and tion of computer systems and other from products as possible, says Scott metals when they disassemble comelectronics products. These tags, O’Connell, the environmental proputers and other gadgets. A new which are widely used in retail and gram manager for Dell. program at Arizona State University cost as little as 10–20¢ each, could To Williams, this suggests that (ASU) aims to develop new technolhelp resellers, dismantlers, and recycomputer manufacturers would be ogies to reduce the environmental clers identify what can be reused— willing to pay the extra cost associimpact of computers at the ends of from the entire product to parts or ated with installing RFID devices on their lives. The initiative is the first materials, Williams says. their computers and perhaps even of its kind in the U.S. and among the “RFID is a key technology which on the individual subcomponents. first in the world. supports safe and efficient recyRepresentatives from three U.S. One of the program’s key electronics recycling comscientists is Eric Williams, panies agreed that RFID who holds joint appointwould indeed help them ments at ASU’s Global Inidentify salable subcompostitute of Sustainability and nents and could increase reits civil and environmental use of such parts. Currently, engineering department. many recyclers keep track He is the author of groundof valuable subcomponents, breaking articles assessbut harvesting pertinent ing the life-cycle impacts of information (such as the computer chips and entire make and model numbers) computers, which require can be very time-consumdisproportionately large ing, say Andrew McManus, amounts of materials and environmental manager of energy in their manufacturMetech International and RFID tags, such as the one shown here, could help reduce the environmental impact of computers and other electronics. ing, use, and recycling. David Zimet, president of “The manufacturing Hesstech. “It would be great phase takes up the lion’s share of cling in the future [throughout the if the tags could somehow be used the resources used during the life world],” attests Mitsutaka Matsuto provide accountability that would cycle of computing equipment, so moto of Japan’s National Institute show manufacturers that their prodextending the lifetime of computers of Advanced Industrial Science and ucts were recycled in accordance and other information technology Technology, another organization with their wishes,” in other words, equipment becomes an important developing technology to improve not sold to the lowest bidder to be environmental service,” Williams electronics recycling. Information shipped to whatever port will accept explains. He estimates that comfrom RFID systems could help inthem, adds Lauren Roman of MaSeR puters are replaced approximately crease the life span of computers Corp. The U.S. EPA has rules governevery 3 years in developed nations and other electronics, says Amit Jain ing the export of used cathode ray like Japan and the U.S., well before of IRG Systems South Asia Pvt., Ltd., tubes, but recyclers say they are not the functional life span of the mawho has studied informal recycling widely enforced. chine is over. “What people get rid in India. One problem is that the cost of of is a mix of usable machines, comWilliams argues that RFID can RFID reading devices could be proponents, and junk. But in many recomplement the successful efforts hibitive in poorer countries, point cycling systems around the world of environmental groups such as the out Ted Smith, chair of the Elec(including Japan’s), this is ignored Basel Action Network (BAN), Greentronics TakeBack Coalition, and and everything gets recycled for mapeace, and the Silicon Valley ToxJim Puckett of BAN. Williams counterials,” he says. ics Coalition to shame electronics ters that electronics manufacturers Williams and his colleagues manufacturers into improving their might pay that bill to show good corare developing a technology that environmental performance. By all porate citizenship. uses radio-frequency identification accounts, computer manufacturers —KELLYN BETTS © 2008 American Chemical Society
March 1, 2008 / Environmental Science & Technology ■ 1393
