The information technology boom and bust of the 1990s is leaving a lot more than worthless shares and frustrated investors in its wake; it is producing a mountain of electronic waste as technological advancements make computers and other devices containing toxic products obsolete at a constantly increasing pace.
Governments around the world are taking note, and action. Perhaps the approach that is most aggressive - and disconcerting to the electronics industry - is to be found in Europe.
The European Union has proposed two measures that would require electronics manufacturers to take back and recycle their used products and impose a ban on the use of some key - but toxic - substances, like lead and mercury, in electronics. The full European Parliament is expected next month to consider the two directives that would apply to anyone who sells products in Europe, the biggest foreign market for U.S. electronic goods.
"As a practical matter, it would have global implications," says David Isaacs, Hewlett-Packard's manager of federal public policy. "We typically design and manufacture one product for global distribution. You can't have a Danish computer and a Minnesota computer and a Buenos Aires computer."
The ban on hazardous substances like mercury and lead has producers most concerned. If approved in its current form, the ban could force manufacturers around the world to change the way they make their products. The result: Consumers and businesses could end up paying more for electronics that are less energy-efficient, industry officials say.
Still, there are growing calls around the world for producers to take greater responsibility for what happens to their products after they become obsolete.
"This is a major step towards the objective of sustainable production and consumption," said Margot Wallstrom, head of the European Commission's environment directorate, when the directive was formally unveiled last summer. The commission is responsible for developing legislative proposals for the EU. "Due to the fast pace of technological innovation, electrical and electronic equipment constitute one of the fastest growing waste streams in the EU."
Several countries have established take-back and recycle requirements for electronic waste, though none have gone as far as the European Commission's proposal.
"Clearly, what's being proposed in Europe is the most ambitious," says Paul Hagen, an environmental lawyer at the Washington law firm of Beveridge and Diamond who represents several electronics companies. "The proposed prohibitions on certain metals are most problematic for industry. The take-back initiatives are on an order of magnitude lower in terms of their impact on the industry as compared to trying to [tell] them how to design products."
