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Facts about computer and office electronics recycling
- Dumping 315 million computers into landfills amounts to the introduction of 1.2 billion pounds of lead, 2 million pounds of cadmium, and 400,000 pounds of mercury into waste streams. The U.S. EPA estimates that currently 80% of all discarded computer systems find their way into landfills. By comparison, approximately 70% of household appliances (stoves, washers, dryers etc) are recycled
- Computers can contain an average of four pounds of lead (depending on their size, make and vintage) as well as other potential toxins like chromium, cadmium, mercury, beryllium, nickel, zinc and brominated flame retardants.
- More than 3.2 million tons of electronic waste is deposited in landfills each year and that figure is expected to rise by 3 percent to 5 percent per year (almost three times faster than the municipal waste stream).
- The average lifespan for a common PC manufactured in 1999 was 37 months. It’s estimated that by 2005, most people will trade in their computers for new models within two years of purchasing them and one computer will become obsolete for every new computer put on the market.
- It takes 3.7 pounds of fossil fuels and other chemicals and 70.5 pounds of water to produce a single 2-gram microchip.
- An estimated 12.75 million computers went to recyclers in the U.S. in 2002.
- In 1998, more than 112 million pounds of materials were recovered from electronics including steel, glass, plastic and precious metals.
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