E-Waste@Large

Computer recycling is meant to keep hazardous materials out of incinerators and landfills, reusing components to avoid the pollution and energy use required to obtain new materials. But recycling is also expensive and hazardous. So many companies, rather than disassemble the machines, chose to export them to developing nations, where they are not repaired or sold, but dumped. Each month, 400,000 units arrive in Lagos, Nigeria, but computer dealers complain that 75 percent of them are junk. Unusable American computers are pried apart for their copper, aluminum, and gold, leaving waste and contaminants in foreign landfills. US legislators are currently considering dozens of state and federal bills designed to remedy the situation, but time is of the essence: According to the National Safety Council, 250 million computers will be obsolete by 2009. – YaleGlobal