By Elizabeth Kelly
How many cell phones and computers have you owned in your life? Do you know where they ended up when you discarded them? Have you ever thought about it? I started college with a blackberry, and over the course of upgrades, broken screens, and theft, have owned five phones in just three years.
Annually, only about a quarter of American electronic waste is recycled responsibly, or in other words, not exported or landfilled. The remaining waste—much of it toxic—often ends up overseas where it is processed by children and other workers in unsafe conditions, causing health and environmental problems. Instead, we should be recycling this electronic waste in the US, where we have the proper technology and regulations to do so without causing harm to people or the environment. While our waste does have economic value in these less wealthy nations, the human and social risks significantly outweigh the monetary benefits. Legislation has been pending in Congress for several years that would create the necessary incentives.
We are not talking about a little bit of waste here and there. The United States leads the world in electronic waste generation in gross and per capita. American consumers, businesses, and government agencies generated over nine millions tons of electronic waste in 2012. This is the same weight as more than four million cars. As a student, I became personally concerned when I found out that our age group contributes most to this growing problem. We go through more electronics, and do so more quickly, than any other age group.
The European Union has stepped up to the challenge by creating a robust electronic waste recycling industry that is predicted to generate nearly $1.8 billion by 2020. The United States could do the same thing. Early estimates indicate that electronic waste recycling domestically could create 42,000 jobs and $1 billion in American payroll, and those figures would climb as the industry expanded. According to industry stakeholders, the current electronic waste recycling industry has the capacity to handle more electronic waste tomorrow but the proper incentives to keep the waste here to be processed responsibly, instead of exported or landfilled, do not yet exist on the federal level.
While the US could benefit economically from better recycling, it would also be a positive effort for health and the environment. Especially in developing countries, improper and outdated electronic waste disposal practices can cause childhood cancers, miscarriage rates six times higher than their unexposed neighbors, permanent organ damage and lead poisoning, among other adverse consequences. The health risks associated with improper processing of electronic waste, primarily from lead poisoning, are not confined to other countries. A 2007 study showed that US dumped e-waste has resulted in lead being found in a lot of children’s jewelry purchased from China.
The environmental consequences of improper electronic waste dumping are the same everywhere. Failure to adequately recycle electronic waste can cause irreparable damage through contaminating the drinking water supply, oceans, soil and air. Unsurprisingly, the environmental and economic ramifications are linked. By re-using and recycling rare earth minerals, we save money and resources that would otherwise be allocated to mine for new materials. The mining process is economically and environmentally costly, as the mechanisms are expensive and the release of greenhouse gases is often involved, according to environmental experts. Additionally, devices used for our national security often require these rare earth minerals, and the vast majority are controlled by China. By recycling responsibly here in the United States, we keep jobs and these valuable materials at home.
So how do we go about doing this? A bill now pending in Congress, the Responsible Electronics Recycling Act (Rep. Gene Green’s HR 2791 and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse’s S 2090), would create incentives against dumping electronic waste overseas in non-OECD nations. It requires more transparency in the electronic waste processing procedures that involve the US government as well as the government of the receiving country, requires the EPA to identify parts of these electronics than could be hazardous to human health and the environment, outlines valuable critical minerals and rare earth elements, and establishes a platform through which people and organizations can apply for research grants to learn more about proper make-up, design and collection. In essence, the bill promotes keeping the electronic waste and the valuable parts it contains in the US, where it can be handled properly and generate jobs.
The Responsible Electronics Recycling Act (HR 2791 and S 2090), or RERA, has bi-partisan support in the House and needs co-sponsors in the Senate. The politics are more complicated than they appear on the surface. The bill faces fierce opposition from a portion of the waste industry that benefits from the current lack of regulation. The Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries, ISRI, has been successfully lobbying Congress against this necessary legislation for years. Those that benefit the most from the lack of oversight are those that are doing the least good. Economic, environmental, and health interests should trump this one segment of the industry that is not playing by any rules.
So the next time you are ready to get rid of your latest phone or computer, consider the consequences of how you choose to do so. Look for companies who are certified under the e-Stewards or Responsible Recycling (R2) standards. In the meantime, help us to spread the word about the need for responsible electronic waste recycling. Our economy stands to benefit from additional jobs and domestic revenue, the environment and health of ourselves and our neighbors could improve tremendously, and we could keep necessary rare earth minerals here at home to help with our national security.
Elizabeth Kelly is a junior Health Care Management and Policy Major in the Georgetown School of Nursing and Health Studies with a minor in Economics.
Established in 1995, the Georgetown Public Policy Review is the McCourt School of Public Policy’s nonpartisan, graduate student-run publication. Our mission is to provide an outlet for innovative new thinkers and established policymakers to offer perspectives on the politics and policies that shape our nation and our world.
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