Just one color computer monitor or television can contain up to eight pounds of lead. Consider that amount in light of the estimated 12 million tons of 'e-wastes' that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates may soon be dumped into American landfills.

Researchers have devised a 'reverse production' system that creates infrastructure to recover and reuse every material contained within e-wastes --metals such as lead, copper, aluminum and gold, and various plastics, glass and wire. Such 'closed loop' manufacturing and recovery offers a win-win situation for everyone, researchers said. Less of the Earth will be mined for raw materials, and groundwater will be protected.

But this simple concept requires a lot of brand new thinking. The researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology are devising methods to plan reverse production systems that will collect e-trash, tear apart devices ('de-manufacture it') and use the components and materials again -- all while making the process economically viable.

Key to their approach is the ongoing development of a mathematical model to predict the economic success of recovery efforts. Modeling is necessary given the uncertainty inherent in a host of variables --quantities, locations, types and conditions of old parts, and numerous aspects of transportation (distance, costs of fuel, labor, insurance, etc.).

They are creating a new architecture for separation systems. From this work, new industries and an infrastructure can be created to recover value not only from e-waste, but also from automobiles and other durable goods. >from *New system recovers and reuses electronic wastes*. march 3, 2003

related context
> microchip: environmental impact. november 12, 2002
> e-waste: cyber-age nightmare. march 5, 2002

imago
> no dumping: our flow drains to ocean

Take It Back! Make It Clean! Make It Green!
Computer TakeBack Campaign. Fifth Annual Computer Report Card. May 19, 2004

The Report Card is issued annually by the Computer TakeBack Campaign (CTBC) to document whether manufacturers are including environmental design concepts into their products and taking responsibility for the entire life cycle of those products, and to encourage consumers to leverage their buying power to foster greater corporate responsibility for protecting public health, worker safety and the environment.

http://www.svtc.org/cleancc/pubs/2003report.htm
---

Brominated Flame Retardants in Dust on Computers:
The Case for Safer Chemicals and Better Computer Design.

In the first nationwide tests for brominated flame retardants in dust swiped from computers, the Computer Take-Back Campaign (CTBC) and Clean Production Action (CPA) found these neurotoxic chemicals on every computer sampled.

These results indicate that there is exposure to certain brominated flame retardants and that computers are likely to be a significant source of deca-BDE exposure in the dust of homes, offices, schools, and businesses. There is evidence that these chemicals could be hazardous to human health. All exposures, no matter how small, are of concern because deca-BDE is a bioaccumulative substance. This means that multiple exposures to low levels of deca-BDE add up over time and build up in the body. There is no safe dose associated with these chemicals. Fortunately, this report finds that computer manufacturers can prevent unnecessary risks by using safer alternatives that meet stringent fire standards in the United States and are less harmful to human health and the environment.

http://www.computertakeback.com/the_problem/bfr.cfm