Integrated electronic waste management in Mexico : law, technology and public policy

What is electronic waste? Why is it considered a problem? What are the public health implications of its mishandling? The electronic industry, a sector that has experienced one of the highest growth rates of the last decade, has had a great success in growing the mass consumer market for personal computers, cell phones, and other types of personal electronic equipment. Supporting this incredible growth, the electric industry has also provided electric cells and battery systems to power all these devices. Unfortunately, personal computers as well as other electric and electronic equipment (EEE) become obsolete faster than ever. The mounting quantities of obsolete EEE and spent batteries represent a serious problem for the industrial sector, as well as for governments and citizens, not only because of the volumes being generated, but because of the hazardous materials and toxic metals, including lead, nickel, cadmium, mercury and chromium to mention some of the most important health wise and the gold, copper, aluminum, nickel, silver and palladium they contain. These contents also offer incentives for their collection and recovery. They need to be diverted from the waste stream reaching the sanitary landfills and in some instances incineration facilities, to reduce public exposure to these toxic substances and avoid the public health burdens they represent. What is the dimension of this problem in Mexico? Mexico has generated at least 6.3 million obsolete computers during the last decade, and by the end of 2006, 10 million additional personal computers will become obsolete. Not all of them will reach the municipal solid waste (MSW) stream the same year they become obsolete.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2004

Author dc:creator

• Gonzalez Llera, Ricardo, 1971-

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Lawrence Susskind.

• Urban Studies and Planning.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/17717

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/17717