Ethics of EWaste
Table of Contents
1. Abstract4
2. Introduction5
2.1 Identification of Ewaste5
2.2 Phenomenon of increasing Ewaste6
2.3 Current ways to handle Ewaste8
3. Cause analysis of Ewaste9
3.1 International mapping of Ewaste10
3.2 Personal demand of consumer electronic11
4. Effects consideration of Ewaste11
4.1 Risks of toxic substances in Ewaste12 …show more content…
It is estimated that there are over a billion personal computers in the world at present. In the United States alone, over 50% of
US households owns a computer and there are over 300 million obsolete computers. …show more content…
Furthermore, due to the advance of technology makes such electronic products cheaper and more powerful, people frequently to buy a new machine to accommodate the newer generations of technology than it is to upgrade the old.(Hawari &Hassan) Particularly, Intel whose mission focus on hardware and Microsoft whose mission is software, constantly generate new programs that fuel the demand for more speed, memory and power. That is the reason why personal computers upgrade so fast while perform better. As a result, the junking of electronic products also increases at a faster rate with the lifespan of them is decreasing. For example, the average lifespan of a computer tower was 46 years and computer monitors 67 years in 1997. It has fallen to 2 years in 2005.
Indeed, based on the research data provided by United States Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA), it can be clearly seen that the total annual electronic products become obsolete has increased in the last decade. The following table is part of data provide by
EPA that only takes Desktop, cell phones and projection from year 20042009 as ewaste examples. Total Annual Obsolete
Yea
r
Desktops
units(000)