There is growing concern around the world about the build-up of electronic waste, much of which still ends up in landfills. For example, in 1998, only 11 percent of the 20 million PCs that became obsolete in the U.S. were recycled, according to a National Safety Council study, which is among the few comprehensive reports on the issue.
Computers and other electronics dumped into landfills run the danger of leaking toxic chemicals into the soil that can make their way into the ground water, according to the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition. A computer monitor alone may contain several pounds of lead, which can damage kidneys and the central nervous system. Mercury, from the monitor, can cause brain damage.
But electronics also pose a problem at the beginning of their life cycles. Countries like Japan and Taiwan have also had serious problems with pollution from electronic manufacturing plants, particularly from waste water discharged at these plants, according to Fumikazu Yoshida, an economics professor at Japan's Hokkaido University who has written extensively about ground water pollution caused by technology manufacturing plants. He argues that governments, which are often eager to attract high-tech companies, should more closely scrutinize the manufacturing processes at such plants.
Both industry and environmentalists have had a difficult time assessing the potential scope of the electronic waste problem. There are no global figures on how much electronic waste will be produced in coming years. But the National Safety Council has estimated that by next year the number of personal computers that will become obsolete will exceed the number of new products shipped by more than 3 million units - in the U.S. alone.
