US in hunt for old electronics
Source: Agencies |
May 2, 2011, Monday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
A NEW international project will try to track cell phones, TVs and other electronic waste discarded by United States citizens to help recycle everything from gold to rare earths and protect human health, US and United Nations officials said yesterday.
Many electronic items end up at the bottom of drawers at home when they break or get outdated. Many are shipped abroad for recycling. Others get dumped in the trash and vanish into landfills or are incinerated, releasing toxins.
Only about 10 to 15 percent get recycled properly, said Ruediger Kuehr, executive secretary of StEP (Solving the E-Waste Problem), a project led by the UN University.
"Tracking flows around the world ... is fundamental to work out solutions," he said after the announcement of US$2.5 million in new funds over five years from the US Environmental Protection Agency to help track US electronic waste.
The project will work with port officials in West Africa and Asia to try to estimate flows of everything from televisions to computers sent to developing nations.
"Electronics is the fastest growing waste stream in the United States," Stephanie Adrian of EPA said. "We don't have enough information" about where electronics end up.
A million cell phones can yield 24 kilograms of gold, 250kg of silver, 9kg of palladium and more than 9 tons of copper, according to experts quoted by StEP. In 2006, about a billion cellphone were sold worldwide.
"If you ask your friends how many mobile phones they have in their drawers at home you will easily have rather impressive numbers," Kuehr said.
Many electronic items end up at the bottom of drawers at home when they break or get outdated. Many are shipped abroad for recycling. Others get dumped in the trash and vanish into landfills or are incinerated, releasing toxins.
Only about 10 to 15 percent get recycled properly, said Ruediger Kuehr, executive secretary of StEP (Solving the E-Waste Problem), a project led by the UN University.
"Tracking flows around the world ... is fundamental to work out solutions," he said after the announcement of US$2.5 million in new funds over five years from the US Environmental Protection Agency to help track US electronic waste.
The project will work with port officials in West Africa and Asia to try to estimate flows of everything from televisions to computers sent to developing nations.
"Electronics is the fastest growing waste stream in the United States," Stephanie Adrian of EPA said. "We don't have enough information" about where electronics end up.
A million cell phones can yield 24 kilograms of gold, 250kg of silver, 9kg of palladium and more than 9 tons of copper, according to experts quoted by StEP. In 2006, about a billion cellphone were sold worldwide.
"If you ask your friends how many mobile phones they have in their drawers at home you will easily have rather impressive numbers," Kuehr said.
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