Goodwill Helps Spearhead New Solutions for E-waste Disposal

Changed your cell phone recently? Replaced that desktop or laptop? Got a new television? The obsolete electronic gadgets that you may have given away, donated or simply left lying around could prove to be the next big health hazard.

 

Discarding electronic waste without following proper disposal procedures is both hazardous and illegal. Recent studies show that the component ma­terials of electronic items pose dangers to hu­man health and the environment. Cathode ray tubes (CRTs), the glass picture tubes found in television and computer monitors, contain five to eight pounds of lead. Computers con­tain heavy metals such as lead, chromium, nickel and zinc. Plastics used in casings can pose health and safety risks to workers.

 

As technology evolves rapidly and electronic goods become cheaper and easily available, the use of these electronic items is dramatically increasing and so is the number of electronic items thrown away. By 2010, The International Association of Electronic Recyclers estimates that Americans alone will discard 400 million electronic items annually.

 

Charities like Goodwill Industries, which accept old or unwanted items, increasingly have to deal with the proper disposal of electronic products. Dell (News - Alert) and Goodwill are now working together to recycle used computers. Local Goodwill agencies refurbish, de-manufacture or re-sell unusable computers and their components, or, where permitted, dispose of unwanted electronics in landfills or pay to recycle them.

 

“There are costs, responsibilities, and liabilities associated with serving as a collector,” said Jim Gibbons, president and CEO of Goodwill Industries International. “As much as 30 percent of electronics donated to Goodwill are unusable, and disposing of these products in an environmentally responsible way diverts significant resources from Goodwill’s job training programs.”       

 

Goodwill representatives testified before the House Science and Technology Committee, asking Congress to help in the development of a recycling and reuse infrastructure for e-waste. Stating that non profit agencies should not be hampered with the high costs of disposing electronic items, Goodwill also appealed to the federal government to support incentives to manufacturers for product design changes. The organization is seeking tax credits and recycling grants to manufacturers for partnering with social agencies as well.

 

Founded in Boston in 1902, Goodwill Industries International is a member of the Congressional E-Waste Working Group and the House Energy and Environment Committee. It is attempting to develop a national framework to address the increasing volumes of e- waste.