What to do with all the old TVs, laptops and cellphones people throw away?

Transcription

1 What to do with all the old TVs, laptops and cellphones people throw away? By Orange County Register, adapted by Newsela staff on Word Count 640 Old computer keyboards fill a box as EXPC employee Diego Cuellar walks through the company's warehouse on Dec. 17, 2013, in Santa Ana, Calif. In California, e-waste is recycled with funds paid by consumers as a fee when they purchase electronics. Photo: Mindy Schauer/Orange County Register/MCT A lot of people got a new electronic device for Christmas this year. But what happens to the older devices they replaced? The old electronics can become a pollution problem. Some contain materials that can be dangerous. There are nearly 50 million tons of electronic junk thrown out around the world each year. The Solving the E-Waste Problem Initiative made that estimate. The group includes governments, scientists and business groups. It is based in Germany. Some devices end up at Absolute Green Electronics Recycling in California. The company breaks apart computers. Everything gets separated, Victor Kianipay said. He owns the company.

2 U.S. Makes Most E-Waste Kianipay makes money from the electronic waste, or e-waste. He moved 25,000 pounds of it last January. But the waste also is a global pollution problem. The waste contains lead, mercury and other dangerous materials. Those substances are released when the waste is melted down to remove gold, silver and copper. A lot of companies send electronic waste to poorer countries. Now there are big scrap businesses in poor parts of China and Africa. But that means many people are exposed to poisons and cancer-causing substances. Thousands of women and young children work melting circuit boards, said Jim Puckett. Circuit boards are the "brains" of electronic devices. Puckett started the Basel Action Network. It is located in Seattle. The group is named after a Swiss city. Agreements were written there in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The agreements were meant to stop the digital dumping. Thirty-five nations have said they will follow the agreements, Puckett said. But the United States has not. And it is the largest producer of e-waste by far. The U.S. government said most electronics that are thrown out wind up in U.S. landfills. No one is sure how much e-waste the U.S. exports, the government says. But it is worried that the electronics are not handled well overseas. This can cause "serious public health and environmental problems, the government said. California's Recycling Law Puckett has spent years investigating the problem. He says that about half to two-thirds of what is handed over to recyclers is exported. Congress is trying to make sure that e-waste gets properly recycled here. So are state governments. A law was proposed in July. It would make it against the law to export electronic junk with poisons to countries that cannot deal with them safely. California passed a recycling law in The law especially targets old TVs and computer screens. The old TVs are particularly bad. They contain both lead and mercury, said Mark Oldfield. He works for California's recycling department. More than 1.5 billion pounds of TVs and computer monitors have been collected since 2005, Oldfield said. This is because of the law.

3 More And More Devices Chris Chun owns EZPC Recycle in California. His workers test computers that have been thrown out. Devices that still work are sold. Computers are sold to schools and churches at very low prices. I have kids. I want them to have a clean, safe environment, said Chun. If electronic equipment gets tossed into a dump, it just stays there, Chun said. Huge shredders turn circuit boards and hard drives into large bits of glass, metal and plastics. Those pieces are then melted. It has to be done to separate out valuable metals like gold, said Ted Smith. He started the Electronics TakeBack Coalition in San Francisco. The melting happens in machines called smelters. There are no smelters that do this in the U.S., Smith said. Smelters can't do it here because of the environmental effects. The shredding companies send the metal to a smelter in Canada. So far, nearly half the states have passed e-waste recycling laws. Still, environmentalists fear they are only losing ground. The reason is that there are so many new devices being made.

4 Quiz 1 Read the section "More And More Devices." Select the sentence that shows why passing e- waste recycling laws won't necessarily help much in tackling the e-waste problem. There are no smelters that do this in the U.S., Smith said. The reason is that there are so many new devices being made. If electronic equipment gets tossed into a dump, it just stays there, Chun said. So far, nearly half the states have passed e-waste recycling laws. 2 Select the sentence from the article that shows the effect of the U.S. exporting electronic waste to poorer countries. Thirty-five nations have said they will follow the agreements, Puckett said. There are nearly 50 million tons of electronic junk thrown out around the world each year. Congress is trying to make sure that e-waste gets properly recycled here. Thousands of women and young children work melting circuit boards, said Jim Puckett. 3 According to the article, what is the most serious impact of e-waste on our lives? It is difficult to manage and occupies a lot of space. It leads to financial losses for countries and their citizens. It puts pressure on poor countries that are incapable of recycling e-waste. It pollutes the environment and affects people's health. 4 Select the paragraph from the sectiion "California's Recycling Law" that shows the effect of the recycling law passed by California in 2003.

5 Answer Key 1 Read the section "More And More Devices." Select the sentence that shows why passing e- waste recycling laws won't necessarily help much in tackling the e-waste problem. There are no smelters that do this in the U.S., Smith said. The reason is that there are so many new devices being made. If electronic equipment gets tossed into a dump, it just stays there, Chun said. So far, nearly half the states have passed e-waste recycling laws. 2 Select the sentence from the article that shows the effect of the U.S. exporting electronic waste to poorer countries. Thirty-five nations have said they will follow the agreements, Puckett said. There are nearly 50 million tons of electronic junk thrown out around the world each year. Congress is trying to make sure that e-waste gets properly recycled here. Thousands of women and young children work melting circuit boards, said Jim Puckett. 3 According to the article, what is the most serious impact of e-waste on our lives? It is difficult to manage and occupies a lot of space. It leads to financial losses for countries and their citizens. It puts pressure on poor countries that are incapable of recycling e-waste. It pollutes the environment and affects people's health. 4 Select the paragraph from the sectiion "California's Recycling Law" that shows the effect of the recycling law passed by California in Paragraph 15: More than 1.5 billion pounds of TVs and computer monitors have been collected since 2005, Oldfield said. This is because of the law.