The U.S. makes up 30 percent to 50 percent of the world's market for electronic goods, and "what's true about the U.S. scales up," says H. Scott Matthews, research director at the Green Design Initiative at Carnegie Mellon University.
Within the EU's 15 member states, 6 million tons of electronic waste were produced in 1998, which made up 4 percent of total municipal waste. This is expected to increase 3 percent to 5 percent each year, according to Elena Lymberidi, ecological products policy coordinator at the European Environmental Bureau, a federation of environmental groups from around the world.
Most of the previous efforts to address the problem of electronic waste have focused on take-back and recycling.
In South Korea, consumers pay a fee when they buy a computer and receive a refund if they return it, according to Gary Davis, director at the Center for Clean Products and Clean Technologies at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville.
Taiwan has a program that requires manufacturers to pay fees that fund collection and recycling programs. In Japan, a new law goes into effect this month requiring that household appliances such as televisions and refrigerators be recycled. Environmentalists are hopeful a similar scheme will be extended to computers.
Several Japanese electronics companies, such as Sony, have experimented with using lead-free solders in their products. And Dave McCurdy, president of the Electronic Industries Alliance (EIA), says he is worried that Japan may not be far behind in adopting a lead ban if the EU goes forward with its directive.
In Europe, some EU member states have already passed laws requiring recycling of electronic equipment, while a handful also have proposed some bans on the use of lead in products. The EU legislation is in part aimed at harmonizing laws across the 15 member states.
