E-Waste Decline?

While televisions, computers, cell phones and other e-waste will continue to flood landfills for the next few years, we may see that trend tail off by the middle of the next decade. This according to a report released in May by Pike Research, a market research and consulting firm based in Boulder, Colo.

The report, titled “Electronics Recycling and E-Waste Issues,” indicates that the amount of e-waste placed in landfills globally will peak at 73 million metric tons by 2015. Then, thanks to government regulation, electronics industry initiatives, and consumer awareness, more e-waste will be diverted.

The report goes on to say that nonprofit groups and media efforts have, in effect, guilted electronics manufacturers into handling their products more responsibly. It cites Cisco, Dell, HP, Motorola, Nokia, Research In Motion, Sprint Nextel and Vodafone as leaders in responsible e-waste handling. But Clint Wheelock, Pike's managing director, warns that there is still more work to do.

“It's too easy and relatively inexpensive to simply throw electronics away, though we are seeing improvements in popular awareness.”” said Wheelock, in a press release.

The report asserts that government regulation of e-waste, “to date, has been uncoordinated at the national and regional level; [there is] too much freedom for individual government entities … too many groups with good intentions are working on fixing the e-waste problem.”

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