E-waste
By: Carlos Teodoro
Facts about E-waste:
-In 2009, discarded TVs, computers, peripherals (including printers, scanners, fax machines) mice, keyboards, and cell phones totaled about 2.37 million short tons, caused by E-waste.
-For every 1 million cell phones that are recycled, 35,274 lbs of copper, 772 lbs of silver, 75 lbs of gold, and 33 lbs of palladium can be recovered.
- E-waste represents 2% of America's trash in landfills, but it equals 70% of overall toxic waste.
-20 to 50 million metric tons of e-waste are disposed worldwide every year.
-Cell phones and other electronic items contain high amounts of precious metals like gold or silver. Americans dump phones containing over $60 million in gold/silver every year. -A large number of what is labeled as "e-waste" is actually not waste at all, but rather whole electronic equipment or parts that are readily marketable for reuse or can be recycled for materials recovery.