E-Waste Stream

The Challenge

The rapid proliferation of electronic devices, combined with short replacement cycles and planned obsolescence, has created a growing global crisis of electronic waste (e-waste). This waste stream poses significant environmental and health challenges, particularly in low-income regions where much of it ends up. Key concerns include:

• Toxic Materials: Electronic devices contain hazardous substances including lead, mercury, cadmium, and flame retardants that can leach into soil and water when improperly disposed of.
• Informal Recycling: Much e-waste is processed in informal recycling operations in low-income countries, where workers, including children, are exposed to dangerous chemicals without adequate protection.
• Planned Obsolescence: Product design strategies that artificially limit device lifespan through software updates, non-replaceable components, and other techniques accelerate the e-waste stream.
• Resource Loss: Improper e-waste handling results in the loss of valuable and scarce materials that could be recovered through proper recycling, including rare earth elements and precious metals.

Our Approach

The Global Tech Governance Institute takes a circular economy approach to addressing the e-waste challenge:

• Sustainable Design: Promoting and developing standards for electronic product design that prioritizes longevity, repairability, upgradability, and recyclability.
• Policy Frameworks: Researching and advocating for governance approaches that extend producer responsibility, establish right-to-repair provisions, and create incentives for circular electronics.
• Waste Stream Transparency: Mapping and monitoring global e-waste flows to create accountability and identify intervention points for more sustainable management.
• Just Transition: Developing models for formalized, safe recycling systems that protect worker health and livelihoods while recovering valuable materials from e-waste.

Current Initiatives

Our work in this area currently includes:

• E-Waste Tracking Initiative: A monitoring project using innovative tracking technologies to map the movement of electronic waste from source to final disposition.
• Circular Electronics Design Lab: A collaborative initiative bringing together designers, engineers, and sustainability experts to develop and promote circular design principles for electronics.
• Right to Repair Policy Coalition: A multi-stakeholder initiative advocating for legislation and industry standards that ensure consumer rights to repair their devices.
• Sustainable Recycling Network: A project supporting the development of formalized, environmentally sound e-waste recycling systems in regions currently dominated by informal recycling.