April 21, 2005 — By Rachel Konrad, Associated Press
SAN FRANCISCO — When Earth Day dawned in 1970, optimistic environmentalists
predicted emerging technologies would help reduce the nation's reliance
on coal, oil, insecticides and other pollutants.
But 35 years later, a big part of the problem appears to be technology
itself.
Tons of computers, monitors, televisions and other electronic gizmos
that contain hazardous chemicals, or "e-waste," may be
poisoning people and ground water. Activists say the nation's biggest
environmental problem may be the smallest devices, and this week
they're launching campaigns to increase awareness about recycling
cell phones, music players, handheld gaming consoles and other electronics.
Frequently, smaller portable gadgets have batteries that are prohibitively
expensive to replace. So consumers in affluent countries simply
toss them in the trash.
"They're small and lightweight, and the electronics industry
markets them as disposable. Whenever you upgrade your (wireless)
service, you can get a new flip phone for $50 and they never tell
you to recycle the old one," said Kimberlee Dinn, campaign
director for Washington, D.C.-based EARTHWORKS, a nonprofit that
studies the environmental impact of mining, digging and drilling
natural resources.
Environmentalists are particularly bothered by the recycling and
reuse policies of cell phone manufacturers and distributors and
of Apple Computer Inc., maker of the iPod digital music player.
The biggest offenders are cell phones, said Dinn, because they
pose a hazardous "double whammy" to the environment.
To build them, gold and other metals must be extracted from mines
in western states, in Peru, Turkey, Tanzania and other countries.
The Environmental Protection Agency ranks hard-rock mining as the
nation's leading toxic polluter.
Then, at the end of their life cycles, many phones end up in landfills,
where they may leak lead and other heavy metals that could pollute
nearby ground water.
Americans have about 500 million obsolete, broken or otherwise
unused cell phones, and about 130 million more are added each year
-- the equivalent of 65,000 tons of waste, according to the EPA.
Less than 2 percent are recycled -- usually refurbished and resold
to consumers in Latin America and Asia, or disassembled for gold
and other parts, according to EARTHWORKS.
It's unclear what happens to the remaining 98 percent or more of
cell phones, said Dinn, whose organization is launching a recycling
campaign to coincide with Friday's Earth Day activities in Washington,
Philadelphia, Seattle, New Orleans and other cities. Activists are
asking consumers to download and print postage-paid labels and send
unused phones to the Atlanta-based recycling organization CollectiveGood.
The goal is to collect at least 1 million cell phones this year.
"We think a majority of those phones are waiting around in
people's desk drawers," said Dinn, who came up with 30 unused
cell phones in a recent sweep of the group's eight-person office.
Environmentalists are encouraged by legislation passed by the European
Union, which, starting in July 2006, will prohibit new cell phones
sold in any EU country from containing lead and several other toxins.
Also in July 2006, California will require all cell phone retailers
to have an in-store recycling program.
But cell phone initiatives may not be enough to stem overall e-waste.
U.S. consumers retire or replace roughly 133,000 personal computers
per day, according to research firm Gartner Inc. According to a
study commissioned by San Jose-based Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition,
roughly half of all U.S. households have working but unused consumer
electronics products.
After a campaign that resulted in significant improvements to the
recycling program of Dell Inc., many e-waste activists are focusing
on Apple.
Environmentalists planned a news conference Thursday near Apple's
Cupertino headquarters to coincide with the company's annual shareholder
meeting.
CEO Steve Jobs and Apple board members, including former Vice President
Al Gore Jr., have each received at least 400 faxes about the company's
contribution to e-waste, said Robin Schneider, executive director
of the Austin, Texas-based Texas Campaign for the Environment. The
group is asking Apple to reduce or eliminate recycling fees for
consumers and build in-store recycling centers.
Apple spokesman Steve Dowling said the company would not comment
on environmentalists' yearlong campaign.
Apple charges most American consumers $30 to recycle unused or
broken computers and laptops. And though Apple doesn't have a specific
iPod recycling program, a service promoted by its corporate Web
site sells consumers shipping labels and packaging materials for
sending equipment to recycling vendors.
In January, Apple agreed to help sponsor an industry initiative
launched by eBay Inc. and Intel Corp., that created an informational
Web site to help motivate Americans to resell, donate or recycle
used gadgets. Gateway Inc., Hewlett-Packard Co., International Business
Machines Corp. and Ingram Micro Inc. are also participating, as
well as the U.S. Postal Service, which in some cases will help deliver
PCs to eBay drop-off locations or recycling centers.
The popularity of the iPod and iPod Mini -- as well as more affordable
gadgets such as the pack-of-gum-sized $99 iPod Shuffle -- makes
Apple an obvious target for environmentalists' scorn. Apple shipped
5.3 million iPods last quarter, a nearly sevenfold increase from
the same period last year.
"We'd like nothing better for Earth Day than for Steve Jobs
to say he's agreed to producer takeback recycling," Schneider
said.
Source: Associated Press
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