Originally published February 4 2006
E-cycling movement picking up steam
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
The e-cycling movement is moving forward, creating everyday products out of toxic electronics that are too poisonous to dump. About 133,000 electronic devices are discarded each day, according to government estimates.
Arcane PCs and other obsolete computer hardware are stacked high along the walls of the dusty suburban Atlanta warehouse, awaiting reincarnation before a line of grisly-toothed industrial shredders.
To Nader Nejad, who owns Georgia's largest electronics recycling depot, the long-forgotten brandnames etched into the piles of printers, monitors and other gizmos stacked throughout his warehouse are no matter.
Nejad's company is on the cusp of the so-called e-cycling movement, which makes everyday products out of toxic electronic trash too poisonous to dump just anywhere.
Cathode ray tubes from aging TVs and monitors can contain four to eight pounds of lead, which could ooze out of the tubes in landfills and eventually into groundwater.
Semiconductors and chip resistors hold toxic cadmium, which has been linked to kidney damage.
And mercury in thermostats, relay switches and telecom equipment can seep into waterways and sediment, poisoning food sources and exposing humans to possible brain damage.
The government estimates that 133,000 electronic devices are tossed aside each day, amounting to 3 million tons of so-called e-junk per year.
It's just going to grow and grow," said John Shegerian, president of the Electronic Recyclers of America, a Fresno, Calif.-based company.
As the industry evolves, manufacturers and environmentalists complain about a lack of federal regulations addressing the proper disposal and recycling of high-tech components.
While the European Union passed a law requiring manufacturers to recycle junk electronics free of charge, the U.S. has yet to adopt a consistent policy.
The Senate is considering tax incentives for consumers and recyclers who properly handle e-waste, but funding that proposal will be a tough sell, said Rick Goss, director of environmental affairs of the Electronic Industries Alliance, a trade association of high-tech industries.
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