Research Stories

by Joe Kullman

As the volume of discarded computers and other electronic products increases daily, it's posing a growing environmental hazard.

For many people the main concern is contamination caused by toxic emissions from recycling of electronics. The issue is related to a broader concern: an urgent need to devise methods and mechanisms for refurbishing and reusing existing electronic equipment and components, which would conserve energy and natural resources.

A team of Arizona State University researchers is undertaking a three-year project to determine how electronic waste can be managed to minimize environmental damage and at the same time increase economic and social benefits from reuse of computers and parts and recycling of materials.

Supported by a $350,000 grant from the National Science Foundation, the team will first gather information about where electronic waste from the United States is going, says Eric Williams, the lead project member.

Much of the waste is being sent to other countries, but there's no comprehensive data about how much of it is going abroad and what is being done with it, says Williams, an assistant professor with a joint appointment in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering in ASU's Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering and the university's new School of Sustainability.

What is known is that there have been problems with the old electronics—particularly computers—that have been exported to developing countries, where primitive recycling processes are releasing dangerous toxins.

To extract valuable copper from electronics, wires are pulled, piled up and burned in the open to remove plastic casings. The open burning emits toxic gases, including dioxins, which increases the risk of cancer and other health problems, Williams says.

"The United States gets the benefit of free recycling and cheaper materials from this system of exporting our electronic waste to developing countries," he says, "but it comes with a social and environmental cost to the people in those countries who are exposed to the dangerous byproducts of these methods of extracting materials."

Circuit boards and glass from cathode-ray tube computer monitors contain lead. Concern about leakages of lead and other substances from electronic waste in landfills is prompting some countries—and some U.S. states—to mandate recycling programs. The European Union and China are even banning the use of certain substances—such as lead-based solder—in electronics.

"Electronics products, including computers, contain some potentially harmful materials that are necessary for them to function, so they must be managed properly over their lifecycle to prevent them from becoming an environment threat" says project team member Braden Allenby, a professor of civil and environmental engineering.

But recycling is not the whole picture.

"Producing computers is environmentally intensive," Williams says. "If you include the energy required to manufacture a computer and the electricity to operate it, then a computer uses more energy than a refrigerator.

"Reselling a computer can replace manufacture of a new machine," he explains. "And if the computer is resold abroad, it can provide inexpensive access to information technology that is important for economic development and education in developing countries. The reuse and recycling industry also provides jobs both domestically and abroad."

The project team will examine the benefits and drawbacks of sending used computers and/or electronic waste to various destinations abroad or importing them. The team plans to then combine engineering principles and policy ideas in proposals for new systems to reuse and recycle old computers in ways designed to provide economic and social benefits while protecting the environment.

The team for the project, titled "Assessing and managing the sustainability of global reverse supply chains: The case of personal computers," is an international group of faculty and students from the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and ASU's School of Sustainability.

In addition to Williams and Allenby, the members are civil and environmental engineering professor John Crittenden, associate research professor Yongsheng Chen and ASU graduate students Ramzy Kahhat, Yan Yang and Junbeum Kim.

For more information, contact Eric Williams, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and School of Sustainability, at 480.727.6259 or ericwilliams@asu.edu; or contact Brad Allenby, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, at 480.727.8594 or braden.allenby@asu.edu.