 S RI S ATHYA S AI E LECTRONIC W ASTE C OLLECTION P ROGRAM 1 st National Youth Conference, May 29 – May 31, 2009, Chicago, USA Srikanth Vadde Region 3 – Miami, Florida, USA What is Electronic Waste Electronic waste or e-waste consists of non-functional and/or obsolete desktops, laptops, computer monitors, TV monitors, cell phones, keyboards, printers, scanners. The waste typically contains elements such as lead, arsenic, and brominated flame retardants which are very dangerous if not disposed properly. The e-waste also contains valuable elements such as gold, platinum, silver and also plastic and glass which can be recycled. Startling Statistics Two years ago, the U.S. generated an astonishing 2.6 million tons of e-waste, which is 1.4% of the country's total waste stream, of which only 12.6% was recycled. Unwanted cell phones, televisions, PCs (including desktops, laptops, portables and computer monitors), computer peripherals (including printers, scanners and fax machines), computer mouses and keyboards amounted to more than 1.9 million tons of solid municipal waste in the U.S.; of that, more than 1.5 million tons were dumped primarily into landfills, whereas the rest was recycled. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimated that roughly 283 million PCs will be sold in And these new computers are pushing the old models out the door at a rapid pace: U.S. residential and business users scrap about 133,000 PCs daily. Cell phones are also quickly becoming part of the waste stream. More than 100 million cell phones are discarded annually. If they are recycled it would, save energy to power 18,500 U.S. homes for a year and recover 3.4 tons of gold, 1600 tons of copper, 35 tons of silver, and 1.5 tons of palladium. The average lifespan of computers in developed countries has dropped from 6 years in 1997 to just 2 years in Cell phones have a lifecycle of less than 2 years in developed countries. By 2010, there will be 716 million new computers in use. There will be 178 million new computer users in China, 80 million new users in India. Where Does E-Waste End Up? 80% of the e-waste is sent as second hand products to India, China, Ghana, Nigeria, and Pakistan. These countries have no proper disposal mechanisms for e- waste. This is causing health hazards because of the dangerous elements in the e-waste.  High levels of cancer-causing dioxins  Lead contamination in water  Toxic fumes from incineration  High rate of miscarriages Sri Sathya Sai E-Waste Collection Program We propose that Sri Sathya Sai Centers act as collection centers for waste electronic equipment in a community. E-waste can be collected by taking either of these two approaches:  Consumers drop their used equipment in collection bins at the Sai centers  Volunteers from Sai centers collect e-waste directly from the homes of consumers and store them in a central location if necessary. The e-waste can then be directly sent to recycling facilities in the neighborhood. In case the recycling facility is not in your neighborhood, the shipping and handling cost of transporting e-waste is usually taken care by the recycling facility. This project has no operational cost except that some space has to be reserved for collection of waste in Sai centers/volunteer homes. How to Reduce E-Waste Reuse and Donate Products Preventing waste in the first place is usually preferable to any waste management option. So promote reuse by donating products that are still functional. Recycling If reuse is not an option dispose the products at recycling facilities. Find a nearby recycling facility by visiting: Buy Green Look for electronics that:  Contain fewer toxic constituents  Use recycled materials in the new product  Are energy efficient  Are designed for easy upgrading or disassembly  Use minimal packaging  Offer leasing or takeback options “Scientists and technologists, in pursuit of selfish interests as well as of name and fame, utterly disregard the security and welfare of the society and the nation, by upsetting the balance in Nature, which results in various accidents, calamities, losses and misery to the public at large. “ – Baba “The indiscriminate exploitation of natural resources by the scientists and technologists such as various types of mines for extracting minerals, mica, coal, petrol and other oils results in imbalance and pollution of the five major elements, leading to catastrophes like earthquakes, and volcanoes, etc.” – Baba E-W ASTE C OLLECTION F RAMEWORK Protecting Mother Earth is Our Duty