Gordon,
I would caution you and everyone else to read anything from the CEI with a VERY critical eye. They are not what I would consider an impartial player in this. Of course this can be said for most groups, some just more than others and this is one of them to watch.
Bev Christian
Research In Motion
and as usual.. these are my own opinions and may not necessarily represent those of my employer, etc., etc.
-----Original Message-----
From: Leadfree [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Davy, Gordon
Sent: March 29, 2005 11:04 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [LF] Mandated recycling of electronics - a lose-lose-lose
proposition
The lack of technical grounds for restricting certain hazardous substances in electronic products as is required by RoHS has been discussed in this forum and is widely accepted. The lack of technical grounds for recycling electronic products as is required by WEEE has also been discussed, but without the same level of acceptance. Now a major study (38 pages) of this topic has been published: "Mandated Recycling of Electronics - A Lose-Lose-Lose Proposition", Feb. 1, 2005, by Dana Joel Gattuso of the Competitive Enterprise Institute, available at <http://www.cei.org/pdf/4386.pdf> http://www.cei.org/pdf/4386.pdf. Following the publication of this study, Ms. Gattuso has written shorter pieces based on her findings. I've copied below an excerpt from an article that appeared in the Orange County Register on March 7, available at <http://www.cei.org/gencon/019,04431.cfm> http://www.cei.org/gencon/019,04431.cfm.
As I have argued before, recycling electronics, now being coerced by the EU and by an increasing number of states in the US, is not noble, but wasteful. It's your money that is being wasted. I encourage subscribers to read what Ms Gattuso has written (at least the following paragraphs) and then consider the extent to which their attitudes towards coerced recycling might have been influenced by activist propaganda.
Haste maketh waste, and in the fast-paced world of technology, there's a lot of it. In <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 />California, home of the technology revolution, 10,000 home computers and TVs are retired daily. While that amounts to a tiny fraction of the state's total waste stream, the issue is creating heaps of hype and hysteria about what to do with the growing amount of electronic waste or "e-waste." <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />
The widespread panic is based on misinformation spread largely by powerful eco-activist groups who believe the growing amount of electronic waste reflects the ills of a "throwaway" society and that recycling e-waste is our moral obligation to achieve "zero waste tolerance." Among the myths bandied about are that e-waste is growing at an uncontrollable, "exponential" rate; and that heavy metals contained in computers are leaking out of the landfills, poisoning our ground soil.
In reality, e-waste has remained at only 1 percent of the total municipal waste stream since the U.S. EPA began calculating electronics discards in 1999. Furthermore, the annual number of obsolete home computers is expected to level off at 63 million this year and will then begin to decline. While that still sounds like a lot of computers, it's not an unmanageable amount. Our landfills are fully equipped to handle all our waste-e-waste included.
Nor is there any scientific evidence that e-waste in landfills presents a health risk. Landfills are built today with thick, puncture-resistant liners that keep waste from coming into contact with soil and groundwater. Timothy Townsend of the University of Florida, a leading expert on the effects of electronic waste in landfills, conducted tests in 2003 on 11 municipal landfills containing e-waste from TV and computer monitors, along with other solid waste. He and his associate Yong-Chul Jang found concentrations of lead far below the safety standard and less than 1 percent of what EPA's lab tests had predicted. "There is no compelling evidence," according to Townsend, that e-waste buried in municipal landfills presents a health risk.
Similarly, a yearlong, peer-reviewed study released last March by the Solid Waste Association of North America concluded "extensive data show that heavy metal concentrations in leachate and landfill gas are generally far below the limits established to protect human health and the environment."
The real problem is for state lawmakers who, based on misplaced fears, banned TVs and PCs from municipal landfills in 2001 and now don't know where to put the mounting discards. But mandated recycling is not the answer. The costs, ultimately passed on to consumers in the form of taxes and higher purchase prices, are staggering-$500 a ton of e-waste to recycle versus $40 a ton to landfill.
Gordon Davy
Baltimore, MD
[log in to unmask]
410-993-7399
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------Leadfee Mail List provided as a service by IPC using LISTSERV 1.8d
To unsubscribe, send a message to [log in to unmask] with following text in
the BODY (NOT the subject field): SIGNOFF Leadfree
To temporarily stop/(start) delivery of Leadree for vacation breaks send: SET Leadfree NOMAIL/(MAIL)
Search previous postings at: http://listserv.ipc.org/archives
Please visit IPC web site http://www.ipc.org/contentpage.asp?Pageid=4.3.16 for additional information, or contact Keach Sasamori at [log in to unmask] or 847-615-7100 ext.2815
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------------
This transmission (including any attachments) may contain confidential information, privileged material (including material protected by the solicitor-client or other applicable privileges), or constitute non-public information. Any use of this information by anyone other than the intended recipient is prohibited. If you have received this transmission in error, please immediately reply to the sender and delete this information from your system. Use, dissemination, distribution, or reproduction of this transmission by unintended recipients is not authorized and may be unlawful.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------Leadfee Mail List provided as a service by IPC using LISTSERV 1.8d
To unsubscribe, send a message to [log in to unmask] with following text in
the BODY (NOT the subject field): SIGNOFF Leadfree
To temporarily stop/(start) delivery of Leadree for vacation breaks send: SET Leadfree NOMAIL/(MAIL)
Search previous postings at: http://listserv.ipc.org/archives
Please visit IPC web site http://www.ipc.org/contentpage.asp?Pageid=4.3.16 for additional information, or contact Keach Sasamori at [log in to unmask] or 847-615-7100 ext.2815
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
