Book Notes: High Tech Trash

July 14th, 2008

By Elizabeth Grossman

What our hardware is made of, how it’s made, where it comes from, and where it goes when it’s discarded are subjects I never gave much though to until I read High Tech Trash. The answers turned out to be quite important, especially for a self-described technophile, who has gone through more than his fair share of tech toys, and consequently produced an inordinate amount of “e-waste” when those toys lost their utility or cutting-edge appeal.

High Tech Trash lays the facts out straight:

• Much of our hardware is made from minerals that are mined from the earth at great effort, and therefore expense.
• The creation of circuit boards, common in practically all consumer electronics, uses toxic chemicals in the etching process. Silicon Valley polluted its own ground water through the eighties with chip manufacturing, leading to several “superfund” sites and is one reason why water must be piped in from Hetch Hetchey. Many of these plants have simply moved to other parts of the world.
• Even when sent through the proper channels, recycling isn’t easy. Consumer electronics aren’t made of a single material like a glass bottle or an aluminum can. The boards must be broken up using toxic chemicals used in their creation and burned to extract the recyclable metals.
• Due to globalization, the negative side of electronics manufature has simply moved elsewhere. Much electronics manufacture has moved to Asia along with the waste. There are very poor Chinese villages where our “e-waste” – also called “effluent of the affluent” — is disposed of by people with buckets of acid. The run-off goes into the streams, and pollutants released into the air. Much of the “e-waste” is burned in open fires and toxic plumes head out over the Pacific Ocean to California. The biggest downside to globalization is we’re sheltered from the results of our excessive consumerism. The manufacture is hidden, and so are the waste effects — out of sight, out of mind.
• There are flame-retardant chemicals used in the plastic housings of consumer electronics. One in particular, PBDE, has shown up in human blood and breast milk samples of people across the globe, worryingly similar to PCBs in its storage in human fat. The EPA’s modus operandi seems to be, introduce chemicals for commercial reasons and regulate after something is proven toxic.
• The final annoyance is that Europe is much further along in regards to e-waste regulation and disposal, while in America, the burden is on the consumer. If I’m any example, there isn’t much education going on as to the effects of our electronics consumption.

After reading this book, I’m reconsidering the hardware purchases I make, and at the very least, will make sure to recycle “e-waste” in the proper manner whenever possible. The book also reminded me that although our devices are used to explore create a virtual world that doesn’t seem to have any impact on the material one – it most certainly does, from the hardware to the labor in its creation and disposal, and the energy to run them.

In California, there are resources available to make recycling easier. Here are some resources I found for proper disposal of my own electronic stuff:

• Apple has some recycling options. They will take back old computers and displays with the purchase of a new Mac. They recycle iPods and if you do so, offer 10 percent off a new iPod. They will recycle iPods and cellphones.
• Radio Shack will accept and recycle rechargeable batteries of any kind and also old cell phones.
• CRC.org has some computer recycling options in the Bay Area.
• In San Mateo, at least, there is a recycling database that you can consult to find recycling options.
• ACR Recycling in Santa Clara looks like a good one for Silicon Valley.