A new ES&T paper presents the first estimate of the worldwide volume of obsolete personal computers (PCs).

The authors show that developing world nations will be disposing of more old computers than developed countries by 2018-or sooner. This is significant because uncontrolled toxic emissions result from the informal recycling practices that are often used to deal with e-waste in the developing world.

Informal recycling practices in China and other developing nations over the past decade include burning plastic computer materials and using crude methods to recover precious metals such as copper and gold by using acids and cyanide. The resulting emissions, which can include dioxins, furans, and cyanide, can harm the recycling workers and pollute local environments.

Up until now, the main approach to mitigating the impacts from informal recycling has focused on reducing the amount of e-waste that developed nations export to developing countries.

The EU’s Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment directive is intended to ensure that the Union’s e-waste is not processed informally.

Current U.S. federal regulations target only e-waste that contains a cathode ray tube or mercury (Hg), but 20 U.S. states, plus New York City, have passed legislation mandating e-waste recycling, according to the Electronics TakeBack Coalition (ETBC).

The United Nations Environment Program’s (UNEP) Basel Convention also prohibits the transport of hazardous waste.

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