127 tons of electronic junk… in just 2 months!!

“India’s Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has intercepted five huge containers of old computer parts being dumped illegally in Chennai in just two months. Altogether it has found 127 tonnes of e-waste, much of which contains nickel, mercury and lead and could be linked to environmental damage as well as health concerns for”

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Why are we dumping our old junk on China, India and Africa?  People in my neighborhood complain about a new water tower… Just imagine if someone dumped 127 tons of electronic scrap at the end of the block!!  This has got to stop!!

Source… 23 Aug 2010 14:23 | by a staff writer | posted in Business Read more: http://www.techeye.net/business/chennai-india-being-used-as-e-waste-dumping-ground#ixzz0xipo1mvT

There’s a ton of great information here from the Environmental Science & Technology Journal… following is a brief synopsis from their web site, click the link for further information… good reading for just before bed time… it gets pretty technical… The long and short of it… There are a lot of obsolete computers out there, and the outlook is for an increase.  Environmentally sound recycling practice is a critical issue

E-Scrap 2010: Emerging economies, growing waste stream

Electronic waste (e-waste) has emerged as a new policy priority around the world. Motivations to address e-waste include rapidly growing waste streams, concern over the environmental fate of heavy metals and other substances in e-waste, and impacts of informal recycling in developing countries. Policy responses to global e-waste focus on banning international trade in end-of-life electronics, the premise being that e-waste is mainly generated in the developed world and then exported to the developing world. Sales of electronics have, however, been growing rapidly in developing nations, raising the question of whether informal recycling in developing countries driven by international trade or domestic generation. This paper addresses this question by forecasting the global generation of obsolete personal computers (PCs) using the logistic model and material flow analysis. Results show that the volume of obsolete PCs generated in developing regions will exceed that of developed regions by 2016−2018. By 2030, the obsolete PCs from developing regions will reach 400−700 million units, far more than from developed regions at 200−300 million units. Future policies to mitigate the impacts of informal recycling should address the domestic situation in developing countries.

Source, References and Credits.

RenovoData Services will host a one-day event on Saturday, November 14, to collect and dispose of electronic devices that hold private data. Data breaches don’t happen just to large companies. Think of all the tasks for which you use your computer or PDA—these devices contain a lot of personal data.

Please note, our event is not for all types of e-waste. For a small fee, RenovoData Services will collect only the following:
- Computers—$10, including its monitor, keyboard and/or mouse
- Printers or additional monitors—$10
- Computer hard drives—$10. Hard drives will be shredded on-site if removed from the case
- Personal digital assistants (PDAs) or cell phones—no charge
- Flash drives—no charge

Date: November 14, 2009

Hours: 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Location: Education Center, 8040 Mitchell Road, Eden Prairie, Minn., 55344 (enter off Technology Drive, west of Mitchell Road)
Bring us your old, unused cell phones and help the Quarter Million Phone Project!

Keep your cell phone out of the landfill and safeguard your personal data. We will repurpose or recycle your cell phone, and we guarantee it will not be incinerated or dumped into a landfill.

Help us reach our goal to collect a quarter of a million cell phones.

We refurbish or recycle 100% of the computer equipment we collect. Nothing ends up in a landfill.