April 13, 2007—Standardizing recycling processes globally to harvest valuable components in electrical and electronic scrap (e-scrap), extending the life of products and markets for their reuse, and harmonizing world legislative and policy approaches to e-scrap are prime goals of a new global public-private initiative called Solving the E-Waste Problem (StEP).
Major high-tech manufacturers, including Hewlett-Packard, Microsoft, Dell, Ericsson, Philips, and Cisco Systems, join the United Nations (UN), governmental, NGO and academic institutions, along with recycling/refurbishing companies as charter members of the initiative, officially launched March 7. United Nations University (UNU) will host the StEP Secretariat in Bonn.
Valuable resources in every scrapped product with a battery or plug—computers, TVs, radios, wired and wireless phones, MP3 players, navigation systems, microwave ovens, coffeemakers, to name but a few—are being trashed in rising volumes worldwide, says the coalition. And items charitably sent to developing countries for re-use often ultimately remain unused, or are shipped by unscrupulous recyclers for illegal disposal, often being incinerated.
In addition to well-known precious metals such as gold, palladium, and silver, unique and indispensable metals have become increasingly important in electronics, notes the coalition. For example, indium, a by-product of zinc mining, is used in more than 1 billion products per year, including flat-screen monitors and mobile phones.
In the last five years, indium’s price has increased six-fold, making it more expensive than silver. Although known mine reserves are limited, indium recycling is so far taking place in only a few plants in Belgium, Japan, and the US.
A global guide to dismantling e-scrap and maximizing the recovery and controlling recovered substances is a major StEP objective. A large-scale project is also underway to help China safely dismantle and dispose of its domestic e-scrap and maximize resource re-utilization. Inter-related StEP task forces will help shape government policies worldwide. The StEP logo will signal to consumers that e-scrap processes associated with a company’s products conform to agreed international standards and guidelines.
