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A Primer on E-Waste

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Sustainable Supply Chains

Part of the book series: International Series in Operations Research & Management Science ((ISOR,volume 174))

Abstract

This Chapter introduces the concept of e-waste. The chapter highlights how countries are regulating e-waste and how firms that sell electronic and electrical equipment are tackling e-waste with supply chain initiatives.

All web sites referenced in this Chapter were accessed 15thAugust, 2010. We would like to thank Karen Marshall and Shoumya Prodhan for helping research issues on e-waste.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    EMPA Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Testing and Research (definition according to the European Union) http://maps.grida.no/go/graphic/what_is_e_waste.

  2. 2.

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-10851645.

  3. 3.

    Data is from the US Environmental Protection Agency: http://www.epa.gov/osw/conserve/materials/ecycling/manage.htm.

  4. 4.

    Note that devices that become eligible for end of life were actually sold in previous years—so while current year sales is one point of reference, previous year sales are a better benchmark. Dell and Apple, for example, use sales 7-years prior to compute recycle rates. These devices that go into storage or reused are technically not “retired” but will find its way to the waste stream in the future either from storage or after it is reused.

  5. 5.

    “Cell phone composition.” UNEP/GRID-Arendal Maps and Graphics Library. 2006. UNEP/GRID-Arendal.

  6. 6.

    http://www.unep.org/publications/ebooks/kick-the-habit/.

  7. 7.

    http://www.unep.org/PDF/PressReleases/E-Waste_publication_screen_FINALVERSION-sml.pdf.

  8. 8.

    Ibid. 8.

  9. 9.

    Data is from the US Environmental Protection Agency: http://www.epa.gov/osw/conserve/materials/ecycling/manage.htm.

  10. 10.

    http://www.bir.org/assets/Documents/publications/brochures/BIR_CO2_report.pdf.

  11. 11.

    http://www.unep.org/publications/ebooks/kick-the-habit/.

  12. 12.

    http://www.apple.com/environment.

  13. 13.

    http://www.nokia.com/environment/devices-and-services/creating-our-products/life-cycle-thinking.

  14. 14.

    Williams, E. D., Y. Sasaki. 2003. Energy analysis of end-of-life options for personal computers: Resell, upgrade, recycle. Paper presented at the 2003 IEEE International Symposium on Electronics and the Environment. Boston, MA: May 19–23.

  15. 15.

    http://www.ban.org/main/about_BAN.html.

  16. 16.

    http://www.electronicstakeback.com/wp-content/uploads/Q_and_A_on_Exporting_Issues.

  17. 17.

    http://www.ban.org/.

  18. 18.

    http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/en/news-and-blogs/news/poisoning-the-poor/.

  19. 19.

    http://svtc.org/blog/e-waste /the-plight-of-electronics-refurbishers-in-india/.

  20. 20.

    http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/ghana804/video/video_index.html.

  21. 21.

    http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/11/06/60 min/main4579229.shtml.

  22. 22.

    http://eurlex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri = CELEX:32002L0095:EN:HTML.

  23. 23.

    http://www.electronicstakeback.com/promote-good-laws/state-legislation/.

  24. 24.

    http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/conserve/rrr/2010recycles.prc.rel.pdf.

  25. 25.

    http://www.nokia.com/environment/strategy-and-reports/environmental-strategy.

  26. 26.

    See the Chapter on “Carbon Footprinting: A Supply Chain Approach” for more details on how to reduce carbon footprints.

  27. 27.

    http://www.apple.com/environment/progress/.

  28. 28.

    http://www.nokia.com/corporate-responsibility/cr-report-2007/environment/products-and-services/take-back-and-recycling.

  29. 29.

    Ibid. 27.

  30. 30.

    http://www.lg.com/global/sustainability/environment/take-back-recycling.jsp.

  31. 31.

    http://www.sharpusa.com/AboutSharp/SharpAndTheEnvironment/Recycling.aspx.

  32. 32.

    http://www.mrmrecycling.com/index.htm.

  33. 33.

    Some prominent partners include Best Buy, Dell, HP, Nokia , Panasonic, Samsung, Sony, AT & T, and Verizon.

  34. 34.

    http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/partnerships/plugin/index.htm.

  35. 35.

    http://www.step-initiative.org/.

  36. 36.

    Ibid. 7.

  37. 37.

    http://e-stewards.org/certification-overview/.

  38. 38.

    http://www.samsung.com/us/article/an-e-stewards-enterprise-certified-environmental-accountability.

  39. 39.

    A recent investigative report by PBS’ Frontline program (http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/ghana804) showed that the export of e-waste to developing countries has given rise to data fraud—criminals getting access to customer data and using them inappropriately.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Mason School of Business, College of William and Mary, 23185, Williamsburg, VA, USA

    Tonya Boone & Ram Ganeshan

Authors
  1. Tonya Boone
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  2. Ram Ganeshan
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ram Ganeshan .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Mason School of Business, College of William & Mary, Williamsburg, 23185, Virginia, USA

    Tonya Boone

  2. School of Business Administration, Department of Management, University of Miami, Coral Gables, 33124, Florida, USA

    Vaidyanathan Jayaraman

  3. Mason School of Business, College of William & Mary, Williamsburg, 23185, Virginia, USA

    Ram Ganeshan

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Boone, T., Ganeshan, R. (2012). A Primer on E-Waste. In: Boone, T., Jayaraman, V., Ganeshan, R. (eds) Sustainable Supply Chains. International Series in Operations Research & Management Science, vol 174. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-6105-1_8

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