What is E-Waste ?

Electronic waste, or E-waste, is the by-product of an extraordinary technological revolution. Whether generated in your home or office, E-waste includes the broad spectrum of electronic appliances, products, components, and accessories that - due to malfunction, exhaustion (batteries, light bulbs and fluorescent tubes), or obsolescence have been discarded. When disposed of in a landfill, E-waste becomes a conglomeration of plastic and steel casings, circuit boards, glass tubes, wires, resistors, capacitors, fluorescent tubes, and other assorted parts and materials. Over the last several years, no product so epitomizes the problems posed by obsolete electronics as the personal computer.

Disposing of computers is Hazardous !

There are significant risks to handling the disposal of E-waste. The environmental risks posed by land filling and burning poses many health hazards. In particular, when computer waste is land filled or incinerated, it poses contamination problems in leachate to water sources and toxic air emissions. Each computer or television display contains an average of 4 to 8 pounds of lead. Monitor glass contains about 20% lead by weight. When these components are illegally disposed and crushed in landfills, the lead is released into the environment, posing a hazardous legacy for current and future generations. These heavy metals and other hazardous substances found in electronics can contaminate groundwater and pose other environmental and public health risks

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