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Electronics represent a booming industry -- worldwide. Consumers across the globe love their devices, from smartphones to laptops to video games and so much more. Consumer electronics are expected to post annual sales increases between $10 billion and $14 billion per year for the foreseeable future. But while the passion for electronics only seems to get stronger with each passing year, there’s also been a sharp increase in something else: h...

It’s been estimated that around the world, people generated 44.7 million metric tons of electronic waste in 2016, with the U.S. alone responsible for 6.3 million tons, or 14 percent of the world’s total. Which is why, now more than ever, it's important that there are new ways of e-waste and plastic disposal. Those are scary numbers because electronic waste has two key components. One is toxins, which when placed in community landfills can ...

There’s been a very strong push recently to promote the recycling of electronic waste, which reduces the environmental problems that can result from e-waste ending up in landfills. It’s well documented that the toxins in those electronic devices pose serious hazards to our soil and water. The process for recycling e-waste is about to get more sophisticated and less expensive, thanks to something not usually associated with electronics manu...

Community activists are constantly looking for ways to build new coalitions. That’s particularly true for environmental groups that frequently reach out to other community organizations, businesses, and municipal governments. They know that building effective coalitions is the perfect framework for engaging people to address community concerns and challenges. They also know they can achieve far more when they work together as a large, expand...

Across the globe, consumers have developed a passionate love for all things electronic. IPads, Blackberry devices, Xboxes, Smartphones, Playstations, and Nintendo video games have been phenomenal sellers, bringing endless pleasure to millions. But as Earth Day approaches on April 22, electronics are getting plenty of publicity – and not necessarily in a favorable way. With the Earth Day celebrations encouraging people to become more proactiv...

When the first Earth Day was organized in 1970, dedicated environmentalists hoped to shine a spotlight on ways to protect the Earth through smart environmental reforms. That included promoting emerging technologies that would reduce the nation’s reliance on pollutants like insecticides, oil, and coal. What they didn’t realize back then were the problems that advanced technology would eventually create. In 1970, there were no smartphones...

There are now more electronics in the world than ever. We live in the midst of an electronics revolution that’s helped to change how millions of people live and communicate, and it’s brought people around the world much closer. This is a time of great technological advancement. Remember how people used to buy new clothes frequently? Now people change their electronic devices even more quickly. Once each new upgrade comes along, we toss the...

Hotel waste management can be an issue, especially when it comes to recycling. How can hotels increase recycling to improve the environment? There are a lot of questions about how hotel recycling programs can help the environment; here are a few. With literally thousands of customers walking through their doors every year, and operations running 24 hours a day, hotels are far more likely to be replacing their equipment and electronics than man...

It’s a staggering figure -- $55 billion in U.S. dollars, which is higher than the 2016 gross domestic product of most countries in the world. And it represents the total value of recoverable materials in 2017 from e-waste, or used electronics that have outlived their usefulness. The problem, according to the International Solid Waste Association, is that the figure doesn’t apply to what was recovered financially courtesy of used electro...

When experts from 42 countries took part in the annual International Electronics Recycling Congress (IERC) conference in January, their goal was to study and report on the growing environmental challenges worldwide if the recycling rates for e-waste do not start to increase significantly. The 480 experts who met in Salzburg, Austria also looked more hopefully toward the future -- in particular, at who would benefit the most from the increasing...