Recycling Facts
Its estimated that in 2007, outdated computers will amount to about 500 million computers needing to be disposed of. As new technologies enter the market approximately every two years, e-waste is a mounting concern.
Wasted energy
It takes 260kg of fuel to manufacture a computer and 17” CRT monitor
i.e. ratio of fossil fuel use to product weight is 11:1. For other manufactured
goods the ratio is between 1 and 2. (Eric Williams, United Nations University,
2004)
Most of the energy used by a computer is used during manufacture; therefore
extending the lifespan of a computer is the best way of reducing it’s
energy impact.
Energy use of a CRT monitor can range from 200W to 400W, an LCD screen only
uses about 30W - so we should all be looking to at least change our monitors
for the sake of the planets resources.
Moore's Law
Moore's Law is the scientifically tested observation made in 1965 that
the number of transistors on an integrated circuit for minimum component
cost doubles every 24 months. It is attributed to Gordon E. Moore (born
1929), a co-founder of Intel.
This basically means technology’s moving so fast that companies are having
to upgrade their hardware more frequently. Renewing this not-so-new technology
for tomorrow’s users makes real sense.
WEEE Directive
The European Union (EU) Directive on Waste from Electrical and Electronic Equipment. The Directive deals with the collection, treatment, recovery and recycling of electrical and electronic waste products.
The WEEE Directive's aim is to transfer the responsibility for disposal of up to 6 million tons of potentially hazardous WEEE produced within the EU annually to producers of these products. Producers will be required to recycle equipment at end of life instead of disposal to land-fills. This is also referred to as “producer responsibility”.
Companies selling electric or electronic devices in the EU will be required to mark new products with a durable marking or label to indicate separate collection of the device at the end of its useful life, and also be prepared to take back and recycle these products. Failure to comply with WEEE legislation will result in fines.
The Directive took effect on the 1st July 2007.