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Waste Watchers - E-Waste

Waste Watchers - E-Waste

Program: Dow Sustainability Fellows Program
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Image by Thomas B. from Pixabay

(Dow Fellows Program 2018)

Our project is focusing on the growing problem of electronic waste (“e-waste”). E-waste refers most commonly to old or broken consumer electronics, such as computers, printers, etc. Ideally, e-waste should be recycled within the United States at registered facilities. Recent research has shown, however, that a great deal of e-waste is either thrown out or shipped to developing countries, where the electronics are recycled in hazardous working environments with little protection given to the workers. This impacts both the sustainability of products within the U.S. (due to the large number of electronics that end up in landfills) and internationally (with exposure to toxins). Many local organizations that are engaged in e-waste recycling, or wish to become involved in e-waste recycling, are aware of these problems and looking for a solution.

For our project, we wish to investigate what happens to e-waste in Ann Arbor or possibly Detroit. We currently are proposing to approach this problem in several different ways. First, we are looking into the possibility of conducting community surveys to gain information on people’s attitudes, knowledge and behavior with respect to e-waste (recycling versus landfilling) as well as where consumers think their e-waste is going (as opposed to where it is actually going). We are also looking into the possibility of installing GPS trackers on some e-waste and seeing where e-waste recycled in Ann Arbor actually goes. Finally, we wish to conduct some background research and to prepare a report giving suggestions on how to improve e-waste recycling in the area.