How much e-waste is in the waste stream?

 

According to the US EPA, discarded TVs, computers, peripherals (including printers, scanners, fax machines) mice, keyboards and cell phones totaled about 3.4 million tons in 2012 for the entire country.

 

How much e-waste is recycled?

 

A great deal of what is labeled as “e-waste” is actually not waste at all; rather, it is whole electronic equipment or parts that are readily marketable for reuse or can be recycled for materials recovery.

 

How much e-waste is exported?

 

Reliable data on exported e-waste is not available. The 2011 Electronics Waste Management report models the number and weight of electronic products that are in use, storage and end-of-life management in a given year, extending from purchase to the point where the product is either disposed of or collected for recycling. EPA has not yet developed a methodology to estimate the amounts of electronic products that were collected for recycling and subsequently managed and processed. Consequently, EPA cannot yet estimate the portion of electronics products collected for recycling that are subsequently exported.

 

What is the environmental impact of improperly disposing of electronics into the environment?

 

Electronics are complex devices which are made of a wide variety of material constituents. Some of the constituents, such as lead, nickel, cadmium and mercury, could pose risks to human health or the environment if mismanaged at their end-of-life. ADEQ and EPA are very concerned about ensuring the proper management of used electronics and has endeavored to increase the collection and responsible recycling of used electronics. Disposal of electronics in properly managed municipal solid waste landfills does not threaten human health and the environment. The results of landfill leachate studies suggest that currently allowed disposal of electronics — including those containing heavy metals — in modern municipal solid waste landfills are protective of human health and the environment. However, EPA strongly support keeping used electronics out of landfills, and instead encourage the recovery of these materials, thereby reducing the environmental impacts and energy demands from mining and manufacturing. Electronics are made from valuable resources, such as precious metals, copper, and engineered plastics, all of which require considerable energy to process and manufacture. Recycling electronics recovers valuable materials and, as a result, reduces greenhouse gas emissions and pollution, saves energy and conserves resources by extracting fewer raw materials from the earth.

 

For example:

 

• Recycling one million laptops saves the energy equivalent to the electricity used by 3,657 US homes in a year.

 

• One metric ton of circuit boards can contain 40 to 800 times the amount of gold and 30 to 40 times the amount of copper mined from one metric ton of ore in the US.

 

http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/conserve/materials/ecycling/faq.htm