The New Hazardous Waste: Electronic Waste
Technology has opened human existence to greater ideas and knowledge than we ever thought was possible. Technological advances in everything from medicine to the distribution of information have made for a better and more convenient life. Computers and the use of the internet has created a global network in which people half-way across the globe from each other can communicate and share information instantaneously. In 1965 Gordon Moore, one of the founding members of the Intel corporation, observed and proclaimed that the processing power of computers was doubling every 18 months. Labeled as Moore’s Law, this trend continues to this day. This law and the mindset that everyone needs the newest fastest sharpest computer has created a global hazardous waste problem predicted to be the largest toxic waste problem of the 21st century.1 The problem commonly referred to as electronic waste, or e-waste, consists of the hazardous materials and plastics that computers and other electronic items are made of. Being that this is such a relatively new problem, not many people outside of those in large electronic companies, those who work in landfills, and people overseas in China, Indonesia, and other Asian countries where the waste is shipped know of the problem. If the world’s population is not educated and recycling or reuse programs are not initiated, catastrophe on a global level is possible. Few steps have been made to solve this problem, and the question of who is responsible, the consumer or the producer, is a valid and interesting topic to be explored. Come along as the hazardous world of e-waste is explored with background, as well as solutions and ideas for the future.
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Another way that these alliance systems made themselves known was in the war plans of the different countries. Though the alliances were not initially meant for war, they fostered military cooperation between the signatories. This was evident in the Dual Alliance, as the two militaries “exchanged letters and visits which served to build up an expectation that they would consult and act together to support each other in moments of crisis.” The two even had “shared planning and strategies.” Opposing this bloc, the Triple Entente was also cooperating. Even though it was primarily aimed at defense, “within two years of signing the agreement of April 1904, plans were being made for common military action against Germany.” As a result of this cooperation and strengthening of ties, the two alliances were beginning to be viewed by the other as a cohesive group. Therefore, expectations began to grow about how the system would work: it was believed that confrontations would bring in alliance partners. Due to this sentiment, the Dual Alliance began to make promises about the course ...
Even though electronic waste contributes one percent of waste as discussed earlier, it poses a significant threat to the environment. “RCRA does not, however, cover electronic waste except CRTs, nor does it regulate electronic devices donated for educational or charitable reuse.” The RCRA should implement rules to govern e-waste because e-waste not only affects lives in the United States, It affects everyone globally. E-waste typically finds its ways out of the United States and ends up in developing countries like
Hilliard, K. (2014, March 21). Efforts to Unearth Rumored Atari E.T. Lanfill Move Forward. Retrieved April 8, 2012, from Game Informer Magazine: http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2014/03/21/concerted-effort-to-unearth-rumored-atari-e-t-landfill-cache-moves-forward.aspx
Have you ever seen a movie that cost you $250,000 and five years of your life? Because that is what committing the crime of physical piracy costs you. There are two different types of piracy such as digital and physical. Both have the same principal behind them. Many people don’t consider piracy as a real crime. Because there is no physical evidence of digital piracy, often people see nothing wrong with what they are doing. In reality, they are committing a similar crime as the person who walks in a store and steals a DVD. In both cases, the patron is responsible for his or her actions and should be punished justly. The definition of stealing is to take another person’s property without legal permission and without intending to return it. Stealing is not only morally wrong, but can also get someone in trouble with the law. Piracy has become more of a trend and easier than ever with the new digital age.
Electronic waste, or any waste for that matter is an inevitable part of an economic system where the destruction of an ecosystem is the primarily source of resources that are used to create the product. The waste that occurs from this process has to be disposed of in some way and more often than not, it is disposed of carelessly with out consideration to the affect it would have on the environment or the very people that create and let capitalism live on, “The political economy approach also defers progress on environmental issues to a pint after economic ones are solved” (Robbins et al. 2010, 114). And if this continues there may be no place left for the excess waste created by capitalism.
"Latest News." CBS Minnesota. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Dec. 2013. "Personal Tech."
... previous knowledge critically in order to decide if that knowledge is really worth of abundance. Luckily there are some scientists who later discover that discarded knowledge and takes it as a basis for their further research (like in Leibniz – Einstein case) that helps to establish new aspects of knowledge.
The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) was established to protect communities and resource conservation. The statute's regulatory target is to regulate the "generation, transportation, treatment, storage, and disposal of hazardous waste." Under RCRA, land disposal of wastes would be safer than it had previously been. The statute establishes a statutory structure that identifies and lists hazardous wastes, cradle-to-grave tracking system, standards for both generators and transporters of hazardous wastes, operators of the treatment, storage, and disposal (TSD) facilities, as well as a permit system to enforce these standards and procedures for states to administer these permits. RCRA has become the statute that prevents waste disposal
The Alliances not only contributed to war breaking out; it made the war last longer and become on a much larger scale; major political disputes would inevitably cause a large conflict. The alliances caused suspicion, fear, and tension among nations. The two camps were the Triple Entente (Britain, France and Russia) and the Triple Alliance (Germany, Italy and Austria-Hungary). When countries formed alliances with each other it gave them protection, if a country was threatened or under attack then the alliance would come to that country’s aid. Countries made an alliance when they both needed protection from a stronger country. When Austria-Hungary had heard about the assassination of Franz Ferdinand they went to war with Serbia which resulted in a chain reaction of countries going to war with one another, and when countries teamed up to support their attacked friends when war came, it meant that a number of nations would fight, not only the two involved in a dispute. The division of...
In old batteries, there is a toxic lead that is causing health problems for the Taiwan people who are disposing these batteries (Gay, 12). Space is becoming a landfill from the excess of space flights and the radioactive supplies from nuclear reactors, which could come to our atmosphere and explode (Gay, 13). When businesses run out of space to dump their toxic trash they go to poor nations because they do not have strict safety regulations (Gay, 31). The landfills on Earth are not the only place trash is getting put. The ocean is being trashed with plastic bags, soda can holders, and large fishnets, which are harming dolphins, turtles, sea lions, and others (Gay, 69). Military bases in the U.S have more hazardous waste and are responsible for contamination in soil and waters (Gay, 83). There are other hazards happening because we are throwing away so much stuff that companies have to remake all of those products. Incinerators are places where waste is burned to ashes and if we recycle these can go away. Incinerators cause sulfur dioxide, carbon m...
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Policy is needed to regulate which course of action should be taken and how it should be implemented. Because of this, many plans and policies revolving around the management of solid waste have been put in place. Sometimes however, a particular policy can have its shortfalls, potentially resulting in its negative aspects outweighing the positive ones. According to the Conference Board of Canada Report, “Canadians dispose of more municipal solid waste per capita than any other country” (2013). Solid waste management in particular, involves many aspects, ranging from packaging waste, food waste, etc. (White & Franke 1999), hence, the following analysis revolves around household and commercial waste – referred to as Municipal Solid Waste (White & Franke. 1999) – in the Greater Vancouver Regional District. Municipal waste is a major health and environmental concern as it contributes to numerous problems like habitat destruction, surface groundwater pollution, and other forms of air, soil, and water contamination. Waste disposal methods like incineration create toxic substances, and landfills emit methane, which contributes to global warming. According to the Zero Waste Objective Report, “The impact of climate change and the increasing awareness of the role of “waste” and “wasting” in the production of greenhouse gas emissions is a constant environmental pressure… (2009). This leads to an increasing limitation of government to prevent and control the volume and toxicity of products in the waste stream and a growing need to shift responsibility to the product manufacturer.
As humanity develops new technology, the magnitude and severity of waste increases. When computers were developed, it widely was believed that the need for paper would be eliminated. On the contrary this was widely proven false and we are now utilizing more paper than ever. Canada is not an exception as the typical Canadian generates an average of three pounds of solid waste each day1. This alone shows what a careless species we have become- using and disposing materials without even considering the damage we are causing. With half a trillion tones of waste around the world, only 25% may be reused for a second or third time and less than 5% can be renewed limitlessly1. These facts are true only in developed countries. Since these traditional waste reduction methods have been proven inefficient, we must endorse new innovative technology to arrive at a solution.