New e-waste legislation in the House

There's a really interesting article in the LA Times about a bill introduced in the House last week that would ban the exportation of electronics containing toxic chemicals.

The bill, H.R. 2284, seems to have bipartisan support as well as the endorsement of major electronics companies like Dell, Apple, and Hewlett-Packard.  Similar legislation was introduced in the House last session, but it died when at the end of the Congressional session ended before the bill was considered in the House.

The US, one of the world's largest producers of e-waste, it currently not a signatory to the Basel Convention, which bans the overseas shipment of hazardous waste.  If the bill passes a vote in the House and Senate to become a law, it will  be an important step forward in the steps to mitigate the risks posed by informal e-waste disposal abroad.  

Defining e-waste

What is e-waste?

Well, you know that i-phone 4 you're going to throw out next September when the newest version comes out?  That could be e-waste, though hopefully you'll sell it online or at least donate it to an organization that puts 'obsolete' yet usable phones back into action.  Or, remember when you had to get a new TV that was compatible with digital cable last year?  The old one you threw away is now e-waste.

The Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Testing and Research, Empa for short, defines e-waste as the following:

e-Waste for short - or Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) - is the term used to describe old, end-of-life or discarded appliances using electricity. It includes computers, consumer electronics, fridges etc which have been disposed of by their original users.

Dictionary.com makes the definition even simpler:

any discarded electronic or electrical devices or their parts; also called electronic waste

As such, e-waste encompasses a broad category of the waste stream.  Some still debate whether microwaves, refrigerators, and other appliances ought to be included in the definition.  For my purposes, if it has electronic elements, it is e-waste.  Because of these components, microwaves and refrigerators are more difficult to dispose of in a safe and environmentally responsible manner than newspapers, coffee mugs, and other, non-electronic items.

Through this blog, I intend to explore and elucidate many aspects of e-waste.  Hopefully, through this process I will be able to answer the following questions:

• What is e-waste?
• How much e-waste is generated in the US?  What about around the world?
• What and how does legislation regulate e-waste disposal?
• How is e-waste processed in developing countries?
• How do processing methods vary around the world?
• Why should I, or anyone else, care about e-waste?

Of course, by the time I am able to answer all these questions, I hope to be ready to ask many more.  Though I am beginning this project alone, I hope it will develop into a collaborative effort as I learn more and meet other, similarly curious people along the way.