THE ENVIRONMENT Computer waste keeps piling up BY NICOLE DIONNE

Imagine a world without computers — no calculators, no ATMs, no search engines, no e-mail, no spell-check, and no instant messages — OMG. For all our comfort with these things, they bring waste and a lot of it. The US Environmental Protection Agency calls electronics a fast-growing portion of America’s trash. It’s no wonder — more than 3.2 million tons of electronic waste (e-waste) is dumped into landfills each year. Rhode Island, though, through the Rhode Island Resource Recovery Corporation (RIRRC), bills itself as the first state to offer residents a free drop-off recycling program for their old computers and related junk.

E-waste is more difficult to deal with because it can be hazardous. It often contains, among other things, lead, mercury, cadmium, and other toxics. The average television or computer monitor’s cathode ray tube (CRT) contains three-to-eight pounds of lead. Massachusetts and California have already banned the dumping of CRTs in landfills. California also recently passed legislation banning, as of 2006, all consumer electronic devices — including cell phones, computer hard drives, stereos, VCRs, computer printers, cordless telephones, and digital videodisc players — from landfills. So far in 2003, 26 states have introduced 52 e-waste bills. Eight include consumer fees for recycling (either a deposit when you purchase an item or a fee when you recycle it), 11 demand manufacturer take-back programs, 10 ban CRTs or electronics from landfills, and five prohibit the use of heavy metals in certain electronics.

Rhode Island’s recently proposed "Electronic Waste Producer Responsibility Act" would require manufacturers to pay and be accountable for the recycling or disposal of products at the end of their use. Sheila Dormody, the state director of Clean Water Action, believes this would help, because, "If they are responsible for disposal, then they will be more likely to design cleaner products."

This bill would also require computer manufacturers to phase out the use of lead, mercury, cadmium, and other potential hazards within one year of passage of the legislation. Exemptions would be made if there is no alternative. According to state Representative Art Handy (D-Cranston), who introduced the measure, "The bill is basically dead for the year, but I will be reintroducing it again next year. I believe that this will eventually become common practice, either through laws like this one or because of the pressure bills like this place on industry to take this on, on their own."

The European Union has already passed legislation requiring electronics manufacturers to eliminate the same toxins from e-waste by July 1, 2006. A review of the EU law found that many manufacturers have "already phased out lead, mercury, cadmium, chromium and halogenated flame retardants in various applications."

For those tossing an old computer, one thing to remember is that deleting your files doesn’t remove all personal information from the device. The easiest method, for most people, is to buy software to do this. The Rhode Island Resource Recovery Corporation, the only recycler of electronics in Rhode Island, says it destroys the hard drives of the computers it collects. A list of recyclers elsewhere in New England, provided by The Electronics Industry Alliance, can be found at www.eiae.org