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ABSTRACT

E-Waste is a popular, informal name for discarded electronic products such as computers, VCRs, cameras, which have reached the end of their "useful life". Discarded electronic products contain a stew of toxic metals and chemicals such as lead, mercury, cadmium, chromium, and PCBs. Based on the Gartner estimation over 133,000 PCs are discarded by U.S. homes and businesses each day. Less than 10 percent of all electronics are currently recycled. Most European countries and a growing number of countries around the world require electronic companies to finance and manage recycling programs for their products. There is no such federal law in the United States. Being environmentally responsible makes perfect sense for higher education institutions. Unfortunately, e-Waste, a dangerous byproduct of technology's relentless expansion is one of the fastest growing segments of higher education institutions' waste stream. We need to be strong advocates of "producer responsibility" and give companies an incentive to produce environmentally friendly products. In addition we must learn about and educate our campus communities about managing old electronics and associated materials. In this report, we attempt to answer the question "What should be done with old electronic products?" discuss opportunities for waste prevention and reuse, and talk about regulatory issues.

REFERENCES

• 1: Management of Electronic Waste in the United States, http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/hazwaste/recycle/ecycling/docs/fact4-30-07.pdf
• 2: EPA_facts_4-30-07, http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/hazwaste/recycle/ecycling/docs/fact4-30-07.pdf
• 3: Recycling Computers. November 13th, 2006 http://technologyforexecutives.wordpress.com/tag/hardware/
• 4: Working Partnerships for a Sustainable Environment and Economy, http://gdi.ce.cmu.edu/
• 5: Marc Gunther, Gore's (and Apple's) Inconvenient Truth. http://www.greenercomputing.com/news_third.cfm?NewsID=34964
• 6: Recycling Used Electronics, http://www.pca.state.mn.us/oea/plugin/ElectronicsReport.pdf
• 7: Home Electronics, http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?fuseaction=find_a_product.showProductCategory&pcw_code=HEF
• 8: Thin client, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thin-client
• 9: Ryan Martens, The Greening of the Software Industry. http://www.greenercomputing.com/news_third.cfm?NewsID=35104
• 10: Intro to Virtualization, http://www.vmware.com/virtualization/
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• 12: Angela Moore, May 25, 2007, Do You Have That in Green? http://finance.yahoo.com/family-home/article/103062/How-green-are-your-favorite-retailers
• 13: Electronic Recycling, FAQs, http://www3.gov.ab.ca/env/waste/ewaste/faq.html
• 14: EPEAT, http://www.epeat.net
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• 18: Product return and recycling, http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/globalcitizenship/environment/return/index.html
• 19: Dell and the Environment, http://www.dell.com/content/topics/global.aspx/corp/environment/en/recycling_main?c=us&l=en&s=corp
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• 21: Service Oriented Architecture, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Service-oriented_architecture
• 22: Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waste_Electrical_and_Electronic_Equipment_Directive
• 23: Waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), http://www.netregs.gov.uk/netregs/275207/1631119/?version=1)=_e
• 24: Restriction of the Use of Certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment Regulations 2006 (RoHS), http://www.netregs.gov.uk/netregs/legislation/380525/477158/?lang=_e
• 25: Growth of e-waste may lead to national 'e-fee' on devices, http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9012018
• 26: EIA Offers Framework for Electronics Recycling Legislation, http://eia.org/
• 27: MINNESOTA PASSES STRONGEST E-WASTE BILL IN US, http://www.computertakeback.com/news_and_resources/press_releases/index.cfm?pressReleaseID=24

INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  K. Computing Milieux
  K.6 MANAGEMENT OF COMPUTING AND INFORMATION SYSTEMS
      K.6.2 Installation Management
          Subjects: Benchmarks

Additional Classification:
  K. Computing Milieux
  K.6 MANAGEMENT OF COMPUTING AND INFORMATION SYSTEMS
      K.6.2 Installation Management
          Subjects: Performance and usage measurement; Computer selection; Computing equipment management

General Terms:
Design, Economics, Human Factors, Legal Aspects, Management, Reliability

Keywords:
donate, e-waste, ecology, efficiency, environment, green computing, hazardous material, re-use, recycle, reduce, thin-client, upgrade, virtualization