Which One of These iPad Apps Will Get Rid of America's e-Waste?

The most significant tablet-related event since Mount Horeb, Steve Job’s latest brainchild will be handed down to the masses this Saturday. Savvy as you are, you probably had the foresight to pre-order online (the better to read the Change.org Human Rights Blog, after all). But for those poor souls planning to make an early morning pilgrimage to an Apple Store or Best Buy, it might be worth asking yourself how badly you really need yet another gadget in your life.

The iPad is only the latest must-have gizmo to enter the voracious consumer electronics market. Frequent advancements in technology have significantly cut down the lifespan of these devices over the past two decades. Just think, your new purchase will look silly when the second generation iPad comes out a couple weeks later– and at a lower price.

Although up-to-date electronic devices can offer several advantages over their older counterparts, this rapid proliferation of electronic goods poses several problems. The consistent release of new product lines requires copious materials and resource-intensive distribution lines. Many of the substances in these products, such as lead, arsenic and cadmium, are toxic. Workers and the environment are subject to exposure risks throughout the extraction, refining, and manufacturing processes.

Like the diamond industry, the IT industry also has a ‘conflict minerals’ dilemma. Although a handful of companies, NGOs and governments have begun to lay the groundwork for mineral tracing and certification schemes, determining where minerals come from remains a daunting task because of supply networks.

The constant saturation of consumer markets with new devices has also created an e-waste problem of ever growing proportions. A February report (PDF) from the U.N. Environmental Programme (UNEP) provided a snapshot of the problems caused by the growth of global electronic consumerism. UNEP estimated that e-waste is increasing by an estimated 40 million tons per year. By 2020, e-waste levels in developing countries will increase by as much as 500 percent. Much of this e-waste is currently handled by informal recyclers that expose themselves and their local environment to the toxic chemicals found in many of the devices.

Meanwhile, the U.S. remains the world’s largest producer of e-waste, accounting for an estimated three million tons per year. Much of it continues to be exported to developing countries despite the fact that several have erected legislative barriers. The U.S. has yet to ratify the Basel Convention, which attempts to curb the transnational movement of hazardous waste, or pass domestic legislation banning the export of e-waste to developing countries (Congress is currently debating proposed legislation on the matter). Thus far, it has been a couple of corporations and a bevy of NGOs that have been the most active in reducing and halting e-waste export.

So where does the iPad fit into all of this? Apple has indicated that the iPad itself is highly recyclable and free of harmful chemicals. The likely long-term environmental impact of the iPad is nonetheless ambiguous at best. Looking at the larger picture, however, it seems to be just another device that adds to our modern electronic clutter and feeds into the cannibalistic trend of shrinking product lifecycles.

Photo credit: nDevilTV