Analyse at Least Two Recently Proposed Solutions to the Problem of E-Waste in Order to Determine Which Is Most Effective

Technological and social human development has caused a variety of waste. Nowadays there are many types of waste, such as medical, domestic, industrial, because most innovations create waste materials; therefore many types of waste are growing at an alarming rate and have reached global levels; for example paper, plastic and electronic waste. In fact, some of the components of waste are hazardous for the environment. So we must solve the problems, before they become irreversible.

One of the most important problems is electronic waste. The problem is that every year millions of tons of electronic hardware, which contains hazardous substances, such as lead, mercury, americium are thrown away. This is result of rapid change in the technology and low prices of electronic devices. When people buy a new computer and throw away old one, they do not think how hazardous it is for the environment. All toxic materials are released into the atmosphere and the ground, when electronic goods are discarded and are not recycled. Scientists have suggested two ways of solving the problem: recycling and developing non toxic materials in production of the devices. In this essay I will analyse these two solutions, discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each of them, and then I will determine which is the most effective.

As was mentioned above, toxic substances, which are dumped in landfills, are released into the environment and damage it. Recycling can be a very profitable solution to the problem. First of all, e-waste contains valuable substances, such as gold, silver, platinum, which can be retrieved and re-used. For example, Government Accountability Office (GAO) report (2006, 1.1) remarks that according to U.S. Geological Survey a ton of discarded hardware contains considerably more gold than a ton of ore. Moreover Krikke (2008, 52) argues that recycling provides an economic benefit, because as recycling develops many specialists, such as process engineers, chemists, brokers, are needed, so employment opportunities are created.

On the other hand there are downsides to recycling. One of them is that the process is expensive. GAO (2005) describes this as a result of very high cost of factors which influence the price of recycling. These factors are the disassembling of the old computers, the technology for processing, refining the products for resale and neutralizing toxic substances. Also, GAO (2005) mentions that recycling centers, where you can deposit your old technology, are often located far from cities; and it is difficult to transport used devices there. To deal with this problems McCarthy (2010) recommends Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) department’s suggestion of producer responsibility principle. By the principle manufacturers, importers and retailers of EEE goods must collect their products back and recycle them or give financial support to recycling centers. So producers will try to construct their devices