E-Waste in Silicon Valley

Silicon Valley is the hub of technological innovation in North America, and so it is obvious that electronic waste would be prominent in this area. With technical giants such as Google, Apple, and Microsoft having a prominent role in Silicon Valley, the technology used by these companies has to go somewhere.

This is where a major centre of E-waste can come from. Silicon Valley is a major perpetrator of E-waste, and they outsource this E-waste to developing countries all throughout the world.

There have been groups in Silicon Valley that have tried to curb these wastes. One of them is the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition (SVTC). This organization focuses on reducing toxics and wastes caused from electronics in that specific area [1].

Only about “15 to 20 percent of E-waste is recycled”[2], which leaves a ton of e-waste to be exported into other developing countries [3].

These e-wastes also go into the prison system, where prisoners work on them, with no positive health conditions to speak of [4].

The coalition has tried to add some more proper recycling practices. It has been a difficult process, but it has been slowly moving forward.

E-recycling is a necessity for this world, but especially in the major technological hubs in the world. Silicon Valley shows that even a small area can have a major impact on the entire world, and it can affect millions upon millions of people. This needs to change, and more safe and viable E-recycling practices need to done in Silicon Valley, here in Vancouver, as well as around the world.

[1] svtc.org

[2] ibid.

[3] ibid.

[4] ibid.