What is e-waste?

E-waste is a term used to cover almost all types of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) that has or could enter the waste stream.
Although e-waste is a general term, it can be considered to cover TVs, computers, mobile phones, white goods (e.g. fridges, washing
machines, dryers etc), home entertainment and stereo systems, toys, toasters, kettles � almost any household or business item with
circuitry or electrical components with power or battery supply.



Why is e-waste growing?

E-waste is growing exponentially simply because the markets in which these products are produced are also growing rapidly as many
parts of the world cross over to the other side of the �Digital Divide�. For example, between 2000 and 2005, the Organisation for
Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) notes a 22% growth in Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in
China (1). Furthermore, China was the 6th largest ICT market in 2006, after the US, Japan, Germany, UK and France (2). This is
astounding when one considers that just ten years ago, under 1% of China�s population owned a computer (3).

Computers are only one part of the e-waste stream though, as we see that in the EU in 2005, fridges and other cooling and freezing
appliances, combined with large household appliances, accounted for 44% of total e-waste, according to UNU�s Study supporting the
2008 Review of the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive (4).

Rapid product innovations and replacement, especially in ICT and office equipment, combined with the migration from analogue to
digital technologies and to flat-screen TVs and monitors, for example, are fuelling the increase. Additionally, economies of scale have
given way to lower prices for many electrical goods, which has increased global demand for many products that eventually end up as
e-waste.



Why is e-waste different from general municipal waste?

In addition to various hazardous materials, e-waste also contains many valuable and precious materials. In fact up to 60 elements from
the periodic table can be found in complex electronics. Using the personal computer (PC) as an example � a normal Cathode Ray Tube
(CRT) computer monitor contains many valuable but also many toxic substances. One of these toxic substances is cadmium (Cd), which
is used in rechargeable computer batteries and contacts and switches in older CRT monitors.

Cadmium can bio-accumulate in the environment and is extremely toxic to humans, in particular adversely affecting kidneys and bones
(5). It is also one of the six toxic substances that has been banned in the European Restriction on Hazardous Substances (RoHS) Directive.
Beyond CRT monitors, plastics, including polyvinyl chloride (PVC) cabling is used for printed circuit boards, connectors, plastic
covers and cables.

When burnt or land-filled, these PVCs release dioxins that have harmful effects on human reproductive and immune systems
(6). Mercury (Hg), which is used in lighting devices in flat screen displays, can cause damage to the nervous system, kidneys and brain,
and can even be passed on to infants through breast milk (7).

Electrical goods contain a range of other toxic substances such as lead (Pb), beryllium (Be), brominated flame retardants and
polychlorinated biphenyls(PCB) just to name a few. Lead plays an important role in the overall metal production processes and while
attempts to design-out lead from EEE does not necessarily mean that it is no longer used. Even the lead-free solder elements are
co-produced with lead. This illustrates the need for a holistic view to be taken in analyzing the e-waste situation for working out possible
solutions.

On the other hand, the huge impact of EEE on valuable metals resources must not be neglected. A mobile phone e.g. can contain over 40
elements including base metals (copper (Cu), tin (Sn),..), special metals (cobalt (Co), indium (In), antimony (Sb), ..), and precious metals
(silver (Ag), gold (Au), palladium (Pd), ..). The most common metal is copper (9 g), while the precious metal content is in the order of
milligrams only: 250 mg silver, 24 mg gold and 9 mg palladium. Furthermore, the lithium-ion battery contains about 3.5 grams of cobalt.
This appears to be quite marginal but with the leverage of 1.2 billion mobile phones sold globally in 2007 this leads to a
significant metal demand (8).

Similar calculations can be made for computers or other complex electronics and the increasing functionality of EEE products is
largely achieved using the unique properties of precious and special metals. For example 80% of the world indium demand is used
for LCD screens, over 80% of ruthenium is used for hard disks and 50% of the worldwide demand for antimony is used for flame
retardants. Taking into account the highly dynamic growth rates of EEE, it becomes clear that they are a major driver for
the development of demand and prices of certain metals.

Because of this complex composition of valuable and hazardous substances, specialized, often �high-tech� methods are required to
process e-waste in ways that maximize resource recovery and minimize potential harm to humans or the environment. Unfortunately,
the use of the these specialized methods is rare, with much of the world�s e-waste traveling great distances, mostly to developing countries,
where crude techniques are often used to extract precious materials or recycle parts for further use. These �backyard� techniques pose
dangers to poorly protected workers and their local natural environment.

Moreover, they are very inefficient in terms of resource recovery as recycling in these instances usually focuses on a few valuable elements
like gold and copper (with often poor recycling yields), while most other metals are discarded and inevitably lost. In this sense it can be
demonstrated that resource efficiency is another important dimension in the e-waste discussion in addition to the ecological,
human security, economical and societal aspects.