Environmental, Health and Safety Program
Our Corporate environmental, health, and safety office conducts on-going environmental, health, and safety compliance project management and internal auditing of all TCG facilities world-wide. As one of the very few electronics recycling firms with a fulltime global EHS staff, TCG has positioned itself to become a world leader in environmentally-sound electronics recycling.
How much e-waste is in the waste stream?
Used consumer electronics represent less than two percent of the municipal solid waste stream. In 2005, discarded tv's, pc's, peripherals (including printers, scanners, faxes), mice, keyboards and cell phones totaled about 2 million tons. Of that, about 80-85% (1.5 to 1.9 million tons) was discarded, primarily in landfills.
What are the substances of potential concern in electronics?
Lead, mercury, cadmium and brominated flame retardants are among the substances of concern in electronics. These substances are included in the products for important performance characteristics, but can cause problems if the products are not properly managed at end-of-life.
Lead is used in glass in TV and PC cathode ray tubes as well as solder and interconnects; older CRTs typically contain on average 4 lbs of lead (sometimes as much as 7 lbs in older CRTs), while newer CRTs contain closer to 2 lbs of lead.
Mercury is used in small amount in bulbs to light flat panel computer monitors and notebooks.
Brominated flame retardants are widely used in plastic cases and cables as a fire retardant; the more problematic ones have been phased out of newer products but remain in older products.
Cadmium was widely used in NiCad rechargeable batteries for laptops and other portables. Newer batteries (nickel-metal hydride and lithium ion) do not contain cadmium.
References: "Frequest Questions eCycling US EPA." U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. 25 6 2008. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. 9 Jul 2008 <http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/hazwaste/recycle/ecycling/faq.htm#howmuch>.