GREEN

ELECTRONICS
INTRODUCTION
• Electronics has made life
easier for us.

• But Certain materials

used in electronic
products are toxic and
pose a threat to the
environment.

• To grapple with the

situation, the industry
is resorting to ‘Green
Electronics.'
What Is Green
Electronics?
• Greenelectronics
focuses on
elimination of
harmful elements
and components,
and recycling of
electronic
products at the
end of life.
 Electronic Waste
Electronic waste, or e-waste,
is the inevitable by-product of
a technological revolution.

According to the EPA,

nationally, an estimated 5 to 7
million tons of computers,
televisions, stereos, cell
phones, electronic appliances
and toys, and other electronic
gadgets become obsolete every
year.

Computer monitors and older

television picture tubes
contain an average of four
 Electronic Waste: What’s
The Big Issue?
From banking to the traffic signals on city
streets, electronic equipment makes our world
comfortable and productive.

But when these electronics break down or no

longer serve the users' needs, they become part
of the fastest growing component of our daily
solid waste stream - electronic waste, commonly
referred to as e-waste.

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection

Agency, by 2004, as many as 315 million
obsolete computers 1.5 million computers
 Electronic Waste: What’s
The Big Issue? (Contd…)
Typically, electronics are discarded with
household garbage. However hazardous elements
lead, mercury and cadmium for example found in
electronics can be dangerous when they are
compacted at landfills.

Televisions and CRT (cathode ray tube) monitors

contain an average of four pounds of lead

The largest source of cadmium in municipal waste

is rechargeable nickel-cadmium (NiCd) batteries,
commonly found in laptops, cell phones and
cameras.
 Hazards In E-Waste
•Lead
•Cadmium
•Mercury 
•Hexavalent Chromium/Chromium VI

•Barium
•Beryllium
•Toners
•Phosphor and additives
 E-Waste Predictions
Toxics link, a Delhi based
organization says that India
generate $1.5 billion worth of e-
waste annually. In other words,
manufactures and assemblers
produce around 1050 tons of
electronic scrap in a single year

40 million computers were

obsolete in 2001

Only about 10% were recycled

Electronics are a rapidly growing

part of the waste stream
 Can We Have A Substitute
For Lead?
Around 90 percent of all electronic components
contain some lead.

There are many technological and economic

challenges before the initiative to produce
lead-free components.

The ever-increasing functionality of

information technology (IT) products is enabled
by semiconductors.

Semiconductors are the basis of all the

electronic components and lead is the glue that
binds all the semiconductor devices to make
 Can We Have A Substitute
For Lead? (Contd…)

Lead is used to a large extent in solders used

in electronics

It is estimated that one billion pounds of lead

are contained in obsolete computers in the US
alone

Lead is very toxic to humans and can, among

other things, cause serious chronic damage

From a health perspective, it therefore seems

sound to avoid lead in tin solders if there is a
 Disposal Of Waste
E-waste can be disposed in three ways:

1. Incineration

2. Land filling

3. Recycling
 Importance Of Computer
Recycling
The electronic computer
equipment is a complicated
assembly of more than 1000
materials, many of which
are highly toxic

The e-toxic components in

computers include:

Computer circuit boards

containing heavy metals
like lead and cadmium

Computer batteries
containing cadmium
Cathode ray tubes with lead oxide and barium

Brominated flame-retardants used on PCBs, cables

and plastic casing

Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) coated copper cables and

plastic computer casings that release highly toxic
dioxins and furans when burnt to recover valuable
metals

Mercury switches

Mercury in flat screens

Polychlorinated biphenyls present in older

capacitors and transformers
 Role Of Society And
Companies
Role of Society

o Identify Durable Products

o Repair instead of Replace

o Buy Upgradeable Gear

Role Of Companies

o Material Innovation

o Recyclable Designs
 Recent Developments
Currently, three proposals are under
consideration that will significantly affect
the design, manufacture and disposal of all
forms of electrical and electronic equipment:

o Directive on waste from electrical and

electronic equipment (WEEE)

o Directive on restriction of use of

certain hazardous substances in
electrical and electronic equipment
(ROHs)

o Working paper for an electrical and

electronic equipment directive (EEE)
 Extended Product
Responsibility
Extended Product
Responsibility (EPR)
challenges each of us
to reduce the life
cycle environmental
effects of products

Sony Electronics
recently announced that
it is setting up a take
back and recycling
program for Sony
products in Minnesota

IBM offers a computer

 Extended Product
Responsibility (Contd…)
Gateway Country stores give discounts for
new personal computers to individuals who
donate working 386-class or better
computers of any brand to Goodwill

Dell Computer Corporation is manufacturing

a line of computers that are completely
recyclable

Hewlett Packard has added design

improvements that help with disassembly

One campaign, "Take It Back" has been

developed by several organizations to
support EPR
 Useful Contacts
o EIA Consumer Education Initiative (CEI)

o International Association of Electronics

Recyclers (IAER)

o National Recycling Coalition (NRC)

o EPA's Product Stewardship Program

o Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality

(ADEQ)

o The Wireless Foundation

 Conclusion
Companies go after newer products without
actually looking after the impacts they have on
the environment.

So, green electronics deals with creating

awareness about the electronic wastes that are
being introduced very rapidly.

It focuses on disposal, recycling, designing

products that are less hazardous, etc.

The knowledge of green electronics is essential

for a good electronics engineer for good future.
QUERIES