Unless proper electronic-waste recycling is established in developing countries, they will face serious environmental and public health consequences, a United Nations report says. The urgency in addressing e-waste disposal is driven by the sharp rise in sales of electronic products expected over the next 10 years in countries like China and India, across continents such as Africa, and over large regions including Latin America, the U.N. said. Such imports are expected to add millions of tons of e-waste in regions where recycling efforts are inadequate to handle even current e-waste levels. New version features ocean layer, historical imagery, and more. IHarris Stratex CIO RichardPlane explores the changing role of the CIO, especially given the new balancing act required today -- namely, balancing cost cutting and continued innovation. Raja Hammound, Group Product Manager at Adobe, at Enterprise 2.0 2009 giving a demo of Adobe LiveCycle ES2 For example, most e-waste in China is improperly handled today, with m uch of it incinerated by backyard recyclers to recover valuable metals like gold. Such practices release steady plumes of toxic pollution and yield very low metal recovery rates compared to state-of-the-art industrial facilities. While such grossly inadequate recycling efforts are not being properly addressed, the mountain of e-waste that exists today is growing. For example, e-waste from old computers is expected to jump from 2007 levels by 200% to 400% in South Africa and China and by 500% in India. E-waste from discarded mobile phones will be about seven times higher than 2007 levels in China and 18 times higher in India, the report released Monday from the U.N. Environment Programme said. E-waste from televisions will be 1.5 to two times higher in China and India. This year, China is expected to produce about 2.3 million tons of e-waste domestically, second only to the United States with about 3 million tons. "This report gives new urgency to establishing ambitious, formal, and regulated processes for collecting and managing e-waste via the setting up of large, efficient facilities in China," said Achim Steiner, U.N. under-secretary general and executive director of UNEP, in a statement. In calling for action in e-waste recycling in developing nations, the U.N. report, "Recycling -- From E-Waste To Resources," points out that boosting recycling rates can generate employment, cut greenhouse emissions, and recover a wide range of valuable metals, including silver, gold, palladium, copper, and indium. "By acting now and planning forward, many countries can turn an e-challenge into an e-opportunity," Steiner said.For further: www.informationweek.com/news/hardware/desktop/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=223100181&subSection=All+Stories
