Mar 17 2011
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Feb 06 2011
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WEEE has been in force since early 2003. The Directive has resulted in collection of 65% of the electrical and electronic equipment placed on the market. However, the intention to demonstrate that this collected equipment is properly disposed by responsible recycling and waste management has failed. More than half of the collected waste may still be “leaking out” to substandard treatment, or even illegal exports.
European Parliament Backs Tough Electronic Waste Recycling Targets : TreeHugger
Jan 14 2011
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Jan 11 2011
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“ Word of mouth can prompt a consumer to consider a brand or product in a way that incremental advertising spending simply cannot. It’s also not a one-hit wonder. The right messages resonate and expand within interested networks, affecting brand perceptions, purchase rates, and market share. The rise of online communities and communication has dramatically increased the potential for significant and far-reaching momentum effects. In the mobile-phone market, for example, we have observed that the pass-on rates for key positive and negative messages can increase a company’s market share by as much as 10 percent or reduce it by 20 percent over a two-year period, all other things being equal. This effect alone makes a case for more systematically investigating and managing word of mouth.
Jan 07 2011
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States have to deal with shrinking landfill space, endangered water tables, and lost work from pollution-related health problems…
…the states are like fifty impressionable high school students who totally care what the other states are wearing, so to speak, especially if Oregon can afford more expensive jeans because of stabilized landfill growth…
…This could be their golden era for companies who become responsible for their products’ e-waste…engineers and industrial designers have always excelled at multi-purpose innovations… the “green” part of one’s job is what makes it worthwhile. Light, fast, AND sustainable…
…Imagine that as an industry imperative instead of designing “for the dump” in a sad sack world of planned obsolescence.
Nov 30 2010
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New Electronics Waste Initiative Underway in East Africa
“Old phones and accessories can be used to make bicycles, dental fillings, kettles and more.”
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In the opening moments of the new Web video “The Story of Electronics,” I found myself nodding in recognition as host Annie Leonard held up a tangled mess of electronic gadget chargers. Lurking in my basement at home is a similar monstrosity of unused chargers that has grown ever larger as various devices have come and gone.
But I hadn’t given that sad collection of neglected wires much thought until Leonard pointed out something that should have been obvious. That clump of wires is no accident; it’s intentional. It’s emblematic of the wasteful mentality that drives the electronics industry to design products to quickly become obsolete. (via O’Brien: New ‘Story of Stuff’ video reminds us to think twice before buying new gadgets - San Jose Mercury News
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Nov 12 2010
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Two Democratic U.S. Senators — Amy Klobuchar of Minn. and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York — introduced earlier this month legislation aimed at funding R&D efforts to improve to recycle e-waste and develop best practices and innovation in greener design of electronics.
The Electronic Device Recycling Research and Development Act, a nearly identical version of which passed the U.S. House of Representatives in April, provides almost $85 million over the next three years to help spur the growth of electronics recycling practices in the U.S. The bill, S. 1397, includes four main initiatives: providing grants for R&D into e-waste processes and practices, funding research into environmentally friendly materials for use in electronics, establishing educational curricula for engineering students at all levels to incorporate green design practices into electronics, and publishing a report from the National Academy of Sciences laying out the good and the bad in the current state of electronics recycling.
“For too long, too many people have been improperly dumping electronic devices without being aware of the dangerous effects on our environment,” Senator Gillibrand said in a statement. “This legislation is a win-win for protecting the environment and our families. It takes the right steps to develop the best methods to change the way we dispose of outdated and unused electronics, and the hazardous materials they often contain.”
The largest chunk of the proposed funding in the bill — $18 million in 2010, $20 million in 2011, and $22 million in 2012 — goes to research in just about every area of concern in green electronics, from design to disposal or reuse
Nov 01 2010
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My post on Sunday about the challenges of trying to dispose of my family’s e-waste collection obviously touched a nerve. Many readers submitted valuable tips for e-waste recycling, praising the few cities and a few stores that run good e-waste recycling programs. (Best Buy in particular came out looking like a star!)
But even the success stories drove home that you have to be pretty motivated to recycle e-waste. You have to be willing to drive the stuff somewhere -– often at a designated hour -– or to pay someone to take it away, for starters. Next time I have e-waste to recycle, I’ll contact The 4th Bin, a for-pay recycler in New York City (which was praised by several readers) for a quote. But, like many of you, there is a limit to the effort and money I am able to devote to throwing stuff away. (via Lessons Learned on Recycling E-Waste - NYTimes.com
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