By Veena Clay April 8, 2015
Not enough can be written about the current e-waste crisis. Not only in the U.S. but all over the world, the amount of electronic waste is increasing. The sheer volume of waste in some areas is outdoing efforts to curb these increases, meaning that many countries, including the U.S., are losing the e-waste battle.
News that e-waste is the fastest growing waste stream in America is nothing new. Recent technological advances have caused a nearly ubiquitous proliferation of electronic devices, with both manufacturers and consumers having some hand in creating the problem.
Before legislation overseeing electronics production was instituted, manufacturers produced devices at rates designed to simply keep up with fervent demand. Consumers’ need – both perceived and otherwise – for the latest bit of new technology produced a seemingly endless resource for maximizing profits.
Current Dynamics in the U.S. E-Waste Battle
The result of this figurative call and response between consumers and manufacturers has been enormous volumes of discarded devices with almost no place to go. Landfill bans, which caught on in the late 80s, meant that electronic waste could no longer pile up among less hazardous waste. However, others options were scarce, leaving consumers with few, if any, choices for discarding their electronic waste.
Fortunately, a number of recycling centers were already taking on the task of receiving the world’s electronic waste in the U.S. In fact, since the first recycling center opened its doors in 1896, curbside recycling centers have sprung up every year. By 2009, over 9000 such centers existed.1
Yet, for the past decade, the recycling rates across most cities have remained low. In 2010, it was at 34 percent but historically averages around 27 percent nationwide.2
A 2011 report revealed a national standard recycling rate of 75 percent would create 2.3 million jobs and reduce pollution across the country by 2030. However, the legal landscape for e-waste recycling has yet to produce national legislation to address the current e-waste crisis.
1. The Lagging Legal Landscape of E-waste Recycling
By 1990, 140 recycling laws were on the books in a number of states. These states were responding to increases in waste issues that called for higher standards. For example, just four years earlier in 1986, Rhode Island had enacted the first ever mandatory recycling law. Other states soon followed.
Today, 24 states have enacted e-waste laws. These include California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Texas and Illinois, among others. The coverage of e-waste laws range from California’s funding program, which requires retailers and consumers to pay a small fee to cover the costs of recycling, to Connecticut’s manufacturer-led program, which requires manufacturers to be responsible for covering the costs associated with recycling electronics.
Yet, this still leaves many states with no laws governing the collection and recycling of electronic waste. In these states electronic devices may still be disposed of in landfills or other unsafe locations having detrimental effects on the environment and surrounding communities.
However, public dumping of waste has already been banned nationwide thanks to the nation’s foremost authority of disposal the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). The law authorized the EPA to create national guidelines for hazardous and non-hazardous waste disposal. Since its passage in 1965, the law has done little to specifically address e-waste recycling, however.
Instead, the EPA took action and has since established the Resource Conservation Challenge, which promotes recycling and reuse. The aim of the program is to galvanize efforts across the country to increase recycling rates and help states and municipalities reach diversion goals. So far, 42 states have waste diversion goals in place.3
Still, the U.S. lags far behind other nations in terms of e-waste recycling, and many experts and critics of current methods question whether recycling is all its hyped to be.
2. Costs Still Outweigh Benefits of Recycling in America
Even after decades of recycling initiatives and millions of Americans becoming actively involved in recycling, many regions still aren’t seeing progress. For some, the reason is simple, recycling simply isn’t worth it.
This line of thought originates from at least one rather dismal statistic stating that only 5 percent of residential waste is ever recycled. In fact, the bulk of America’s waste originates from industrial plants rather than individual homes. Added to that is the lingering consensus that recycling is a rather feel-good technique that has little effect on the actual issues surrounding environmental impact.
Some criticize the volatility of the recycling market, emphasizing that the costs of recycling far outweigh the benefits. The amount of energy needed to run recycling plants as well as the environmental impact of plant operations are sometimes cited as costly additions to the recycling tab. These costs can increase when recycling centers are not in close proximity to communities, which adds on the costs of transporting waste to be processed.
3. Inability to Respond Effectively to Electronic Waste Turnover Rates
When the average American household contains 24 electronic devices, each with its own capacity to be replaced – or “upgraded” – within 1 to 2 years, the chance that turnover rates will be high for electronics in this country is astronomical. That means that if America wanted to successfully tackle the e-waste crisis, it would desperately need to develop a way to manage the rates at which Americans discard electronic devices in search of newer ones.
Indeed, one of the main factors driving the e-waste crisis is the pressing consumer demand that dictates the electronics industry. Creation of a society that thrives on the latest new device as symbols of status and prestige has had a telling effect on the environment as electronics continue to proliferate. Such a collective mindset results in a system that has little capacity to address the growing e-waste crisis.
What Can You Do About the E-waste Crisis?
All criticism aside, it should be noted that the U.S. has made significant advances in e-waste recycling. However, it cannot obscure the fact that so much more needs to be done. It starts with individuals and communities sharing an attitude of awareness and action concerning the collection and recycling of e-waste, and cities and states supporting these attitudes as well as encouraging improvement through new regulations and legislation. Rallying support from local and national legislators for positive changes at both the municipal and national level is essential.
On an individual level, establishing a good relationship with a local e-waste recycling center can also help. Finally, choosing to recycle the e-waste found in your own home is the best way to bring about changes this country needs to win the e-waste battle once and for all.