According to the World Economic Forum, the world produced about fifty million tonnes of electronic waste in 2019. This number is estimated to double in size to about one hundred twenty million tonnes by the year 2050 if left unchecked. To put that in perspective, it is roughly equivalent to the weight of all of the commercial aircraft that we have ever built in history, or forty-five hundred Eiffel Towers, enough to cover the entirety of Manhattan. And this is just a rough estimate of about a year worth of electronic waste (Guy and Zhao The world’s e-waste is a huge problem. it’s also a golden opportunity).

While the older cathode-ray tube monitors or CRTs were categorized as hazardous material in the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976. There are no other laws federally regulating electronic waste disposal to this day. In 2003, California passed Senate Bill 20, also known as the Electronic Waste Recycling Act of 2003, establishing clear guidelines, restrictions, and standards for electronic waste disposal (California Electronic Waste Recycling Act of 2003). In that law, it mandated retailers and manufacturers to assist with electronic waste disposal efforts. It requires retailers to collect a recycling fee from the consumers to fund the state’s waste disposal effort and manufacturers to display a label informing consumers on how to dispose of their electronics properly.

Unfortunately, this is as far as we can go to help reduce electronic waste without violating individual rights and straining our businesses. Because if we were to adopt further regulatory control, such as Germany’s approach by shifting the responsibilities to the manufacturers, it would most definitely increase their cost to do business here in the United States and affect their bottom lines. Eventually, those extra costs will trickle down to the consumers in the form of higher prices and fewer options. It has been proven time and time again that where there is policy intervention, there are circumventions. And more often than not, circumventing opportunity lies with people of wealth and positions of power.

Work Cited

Guy, Ryder, and Houlin Zhao. “The World’s e-Waste Is a Huge Problem. It’s Also a Golden Opportunity.” World Economic Forum, 24 January 2019, https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/01/how-a-circular-approach-can-turn-e-waste-into-a-golden-opportunity/.

California, State of. Electronic Waste Recycling Act of 2003, 3 Apr. 2020, https://www.calrecycle.ca.gov/electronics/act2003.