Finding a Place for Virginia’s E-Waste

Hollins University, in Virginia, is coordinating an effort to collect discarded computers and other electronics, often called “e-waste,” from colleges in the state.

The director of information technology, Greg Henderson, says he was inspired to start the campaign after seeing a documentary about what happens to computers, televisions, radios, and other electronics once they enter the waste stream.

Much of the equipment is shipped to China, where the electronics are disassembled and mined for their valuable materials, like gold and copper. Unfortunately, the machines also contain toxins, like cadmium and lead. Cities in China and other countries that have become centers of electronics recycling are now highly toxic areas, primarily because the electronics are not disassembled in sanitary ways. Activists say waste managers should send e-waste to responsible disassembly companies, usually located within the United States, that will recycle the electronics properly.

The e-waste problem was documented in an article in The Chronicle several years ago. It pointed out ways to recycle electronics responsibly, and cited some institutions whose computers had ended up in overseas dumping grounds, as described in a documentary by the Basel Action Network, an activist organization that focuses on e-waste.