[I] E-waste is being produced on a scale never seen before. [II] Computers and other electronic equipment become obsolete in just a few years, leaving customers with little choice but to buy newer ones to keep up. [III] Millions of tons of computers, TVs, smartphones, and other equipment are discarded each year. [IV] In most countries, all this waste ends up in landfills, where it poisons the environment; e-waste contains many toxic substances such as lead, mercury, and arsenic, that leak into the ground.

Recycling is the ideal solution to the problem. E-waste contains significant amounts of valuable metals like gold and silver that make it attractive to recycle. In theory, recycling of old computers is more efficient - and less environmentally destructive - than digging it from the earth.

To address the problem of international trade in e-waste, 170 nations adopted the 1989 Basel Convention, an agreement requiring that developed nations notify developing nations of hazardous waste shipments coming into their countries. Then, in 1995, the Basel Convention was amended to ban hazardous waste shipments to poor countries completely. Although the ban hasn't taken effect, the EU, where recycling infrastructure is well developed, has already written it into their law. One law holds manufacturers responsible for the safe disposal of electronics they produce.

Companies like Creative Recycling Systems in Florida, the USA, are hoping to profit from clean e waste recycling. The key to their business is a huge, building-size machine able to separate electronic products into their component materials. As the machine's steel teeth break up e-waste, all the toxic dust is removed from the process.

Unfortunately, under current policies, domestic recycling of e-waste is not compulsory. While shipping waste abroad is ethically questionable, it is still more profitable than processing it safely in the USA. Creative Recycling Systems is hoping that the US government will soon create laws deterring people from sending e-waste overseas.