Waste Management of Computer Parts

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Waste Management of Computer Parts

• Boz

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What is in computers

• Monitors - up to 2-5 pounds of lead in CRTs
  (27 of its weight), circuit boards also have a
  high lead content
• Flat screens contain mercury in the lighting
  used to brighten screen (similar to the
  fluorescent bulbs)
• Batteries contain Cadmium and Lithium

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Why are these hazardous?

• Lead lowering IQ, nervous system damage,
  slowed growth, high blood pressure
• Lithium extremely corrosive and in high enough
  concentrations can be volatile
• Cadmium weakens bones, can cause cancer
• Mercury growth defects impairment of speech,
  hearing, and walking

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Problems

• Biggest problem is not just that these elements
  are in the ground, but also leach into
  groundwater.
• There are other sources that contribute other
  than computer parts in landfills

5
Thesis

• I believe that while this is a significant
  problem, there are sufficient guidelines in place
  which prevent large quantities of computer waste
  from being thrown away

6
What is being done to control waste disposal?

• RCRA restrictions 4 categories
• Households
• Conditionally Exempt Small Quantity Generators
  (CESQG) lt100kg waste/month
• Small Quantity Generators (SQG) between 100
  1000 kg waste/month
• Large Quantity Generators (LQG) gt1000kg
  waste/month
• Households are exempt from the RCRA disposal
  standards
• CESQG organizations are exempt from most of the
  RCRA disposal standards. Not allowed to dispose
  of waste in a landfill.
• SQG are also required to have documentation of
  proper recycling (including manifesting each
  disposal)
• LQG are required to have the same documentation
  as well as a fee for disposing of so much
• All penalties are fine based depending on how
  much waste was disposed of improperly
• In 2000, ATT was fined 195,000 for allegedly
  incinerating enough of their hazardous waste to
  be classified as a SQG instead of a LQG

7
Local Measures

• Roanoke College recycles whatever they can with
  the old computers by cycling them through other
  departments
• If the computers are too old or of no real use
  they get an outside company to come take the
  parts away, usually once every 6 months

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Local Measures (contd.)

• The Roanoke Valley Resource Authority allows
  computer waste in the regular garbage collection.
  There are no real plans to change that at the
  moment.
• According to Melinda Rector,   Last summer
  Roanoke County, Roanoke City, Botetourt County,
  and the Town of Vinton and the Clean Valley
  Council sponsored an Electronics Recycling Day
  for computer related equipment and other
  electronics.  The event was attended by
  approximately 300 households in those localities.
  It is anticipated that we will have another event
  for this kind of equipment in the future.

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Recycling Plants

• These plants take the actual circuit boards and
  monitors
• Chop up the circuit boards to separate out the
  various elements (silicon, copper, nickel, ect.)
  to be individually processed
• The metals get melted down and sold to be reused

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Influences

• The EPA has been the largest proponent of
  increasing the regulations of E-waste
• They are pushing for more states to ban the
  disposal of e-waste in landfills. As of 2004
  which only California, Massachusetts, and
  Minnesota have.
• They give a new proposal every year

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What needs to be changed?

• The general public needs to be made more aware of
  this problem. Stores selling computers and
  electronics should be able to give out
  information on how to dispose of properly.
• Restriction penalty fines should be steeper or
  exact a heavier toll on the company.
• There need to be either an annual/biannual event
  where people can drop off their hardware to be
  taken care of safely or a designated indoor drop
  point that is cleaned out periodically

12
Summary

• There are numerous materials in computers that
  are hazardous and need to be controlled
• The restrictions we have in place seem to be
  sufficient for the time being, though we could
  improve on them.
• EPA is pushing for a national regulation