Electronic waste or E-waste, is the common name for electronic equipment and products that are broken, obsolete, discarded, or have reached the end of their useful life. Consumer electronic products include televisions and monitors, computers, computer peripherals, audio and stereo equipment, VCRs, DVD players, video cameras, telephones, fax and copying machines, cellular phones, wireless devices, and video game consoles.

Although electronic waste is less than 10 percent of the current solid waste stream, it is growing 2-3 times faster than any other waste stream. The rapid introduction of new electronic products shows no sign of abating, as better, smaller, and cheaper products replace "older" models. Computer products have come under scrutiny recently for the impacts that their manufacture, use, and disposal have on the environment and human health. Government agencies are taking a closer look at the procurement and management of computer products to identify steps that can be taken to reduce the burdens that these products have on our environment. This growing, changing product stream presents new challenges and responsibilities in designing and managing electronic products to reduce their life cycle environmental impacts.

Listed below are some initiatives geared towards influencing the market throughout the electronics life cycle - i.e., design, procurement, operations and maintenance, as well as, end-of-life management.

Electronics Life Cycle

The following Power Point Presentation provides the most recent list of EPA projects addressing Electronics Stewardship in various stages of the product life.

Click here for the Summary of the Electronics Life Cycle (Power Point)

EPA's Office of Solid Waste

EPA's Office of Solid Waste (OSW) provides information on public and private sector electronic product stewardship efforts. Visit OSW's electronics product stewardship page at http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/non- hw/reduce/epr/products/electronics.html to learn more about the following:

• National Electronics Product Stewardship Initiative (NEPSI)
• Multi-stakeholder Initiatives
• Federal Initiatives
• State/Local Initiatives
• Industry Initiatives
• International Initiatives
• Resources
• Where Can I Take My Computer?

Federal Electronics Stewardship Forum

The Federal Electronics Stewardship Forum was formed to develop a common strategy for using environmentally preferable and energy efficient technologies and practices to improve the quality, performance, and environmental management throughout the electronics life cycle. In support of this goal, the members of the Forum agree to collaboratively work on the following objectives:

• Increase demand for "Greener" electronics while maintaining or improving equipment quality and performance;
• Promote the implementation of best life cycle management practices for electronics and share identified pest practices with those outside the Federal government;
• Reduce the economic and environmental life cycle costs of Government electronics;
• Encourage growth of the infrastructure for the reuse, demanufacturing, and recycling of obsolete equipment;
• Strive for "zero waste" n the disposition of electronics and associated packaging material; and,
• Coordinate and cooperate on other public and private sector efforts aimed at achieving similar objectives.

The following Federal departments and agencies are members of the Forum and have signed the Federal Electronics Stewardship Forum's Memorandum of Understanding (MOU):

• United States Postal Service
• Department of Defense
• Department of Energy
• Department of Interior
• Environmental Protection Agency

Membership from other departments and agencies is encouraged. For information on joining the Forum, contact the Office of the Federal Environmental Executive at (202) 564-1297 or e-mail at task_force@ofee.gov.

Click on the link below to view the MOU and the proceedings from previous meetings.

Federal Electronics Stewardship Forum

Federal Electronics Challenge (website is under construction)

The Federal Electronics Challenge (FEC) is a total life cycle management challenge issued to Federal departments, agencies or facilities that want to:

• Procure greener electronics;
• Manage their electronic assets in an environmentally sound manner;
• Receive assistance in improving their current practices; and
• Gain national recognition for their efforts.

FEC partners will collaborate with various stakeholders throughout the electronics life cycle to become leaders and face the challenges posed by the electronics waste stream. Key components of the challenge include:

• Outreach and Education, including conferences and technical training materials;
• A Menu of Options allowing agency/facilities to implement specific actions to support their partnership;
• Technical Assistance to meet FEC criteria based on international standards and best management practices (BMPs); and
• A National Awards Program sponsored by the White House Task Force on Waste Prevention and Recycling that incorporates national and regional recognition opportunities.

FEC will be piloted in 2003 and will be rolled out as a national program in 2004. Partnership is open to departments, agencies and facilities, and recognition will be granted to organizations as well as individuals.

The Federal Network for Sustainability

The Federal Network for Sustainability (FNS) promotes cost-effective, energy- and resource- efficient operations across all branches of government. Through individual initiatives and joint ventures, FNS strives to better its understanding of the interrelationship between energy use, economics, and environmental impact. The FNS has formed an interagency workgroup to develop and promote electronic product stewardship initiatives.

FNS's goal of Electronics Product Stewardship is to change the way Federal agencies buy, use, and dispose of electronics and to reduce the impact of federally used electronics on the environment. The electronic products stewardship page on FNS' web site, http://www.federalsustainability.org/initiatives/eps.htm, provides examples of best management practices for the various stages of the electronics life cycle, along with other tools, resources and information.

FNS membership includes offices from the following Federal departments and agencies:

• Environmental Protection Agency
• Department of Energy
• Air Force Center for Environmental Excellence
• Army Corps of Engineers
• Naval Facilities Engineering Command
• National Aeronautics and Space Administration
• General Services Administration
• United States Postal Service
• National Park Service
• Bonneville Power Administration

Design for the Environment (DfE) Monitor Life Cycle Assessment

EPA's Design for the Environment (DfE) Computer Display Partnership along with the electronics industry, evaluated the life cycle environmental impacts, performance, and cost of technologies that are used in desktop computer monitors-namely, cathode ray tubes (CRT) and liquid crystal displays (LCD).

This project generated data that will assist original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and suppliers within the electronics industry:

• Identify alternative technologies, materials, and processes that reduce releases of toxic chemicals, conserve resources, and lower risks to human health and the environment.
• Perform an improvement assessment of display technologies and their components.
• Meet the growing global demands for "extended product responsibility."

For additional information on DfE Monitor Life Cycle Assessment Program visit http://www.epa.gov/opptintr/dfe/projects/computer/index.htm.

EPA's Environmentally Preferable Purchasing Program

EPA's Environmentally Preferable Purchasing (EPP) Program is a federal-wide program that encourages and assists Executive agencies in the purchasing of environmentally preferable products and services. Environmentally preferable products or services have a lesser or reduced effect on human health and the environment when compared with competing products or services that serve the same purpose. The Benefits of Environmentally Preferable Purchasing include:

• Improved ability to meet existing environmental goals
• Improved worker safety and health
• Reduced liabilities
• Reduced health and disposal costs

For more information visit the EPP program's electronics portal at http://www.epa.gov/opptintr/epp/electronics.htm. Features of the electronics portal include information on greening electronics procurement and access to EPP's Computer Store - a searchable database of environmental information related to procuring computers and peripherals.

Demanufacturing of Electronic Equipment for Reuse and Recycling

The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) initiated the Demanufacturing of Electronic Equipment for Reuse and Recycling (DEER2) project to investigate, test and deploy technology upgrades in the public and private sectors. DEER2 is a task under the National Defense Center for Environmental Excellence (NDCEE), to encourage electronic reuse and recycling.

The objective of DEER2 is to encourage electronic equipment reuse and recycling. Emerging technologies will be developed at full scale, and the processes will be demonstrated and validated. Effective technologies that enhance recovery, recycling, and environmentally friendly disposal of electronic equipment and components will be made available to commercial electronic recyclers and other interested parties. Simultaneously, DEER2 will establish and demonstrate methods to satisfy DoD needs for demanufacturing electronics and recovery of systems and components needed to maintain DoD systems.

DEER2 will advance the state of the art of electronics demanufacturing. The steps include:

• Identifying and analyzing critical areas within the electronic equipment demanufacturing industry that require innovative solutions
• Establishing a demonstration facility to validate new demanufacturing equipment and techniques using newly developed and commercially available technologies that address the critical areas
• Conducting pilot operations to demonstrate and verify innovative solutions under operating conditions
• Disseminating the results to the general public, academia, industry and government through speeches, publications and other appropriate forms of information transfer.

DEER2 has completed 35 technical reports on the subjects of: Handling, Material Control, Component Recovery, Testing, and Materials Recovery (Glass, Plastics, Metals). The technical reports are posted on the DEER2 Web site:

DEER2 Technical Reports

Americans encouraged to recycle old computer equipment, televisions, other electronics in new campaign launched by EPA, Industry, Retailers, and Recyclers

State's Electronics Legislation

For a list of state's electronics legislations go to: http://www.ncel.net/ewastelist.html.