E waste

High-tech may have a clean image — all
smooth-edged iPhones and liquid crystal
displays — but the elements that go into
mobile phones, computers and TVs can be
polluting to the environment and dangerous to
human health if incorrectly disposed of. And
that's exactly what happens in parts of the
developing world, where the poor take apart
your phone with little protection, exposing
themselves to mercury, lead, cadmium and
other dangerous metals so that they can get
to the gold, copper and other valuable
materials within. So-called e-waste is the
fastest growing part of the solid waste stream,
and some 20 to 50 million metric tons of it
are thrown out every year.
But there are ways to recycle e-waste,
reducing the need to mine more of the metals
that go into high-tech items, and preventing
the environmental consequences of poorly
processed electronics. CloudBlue, based in
New Jersey, helps tech companies take care of
their e-waste, arranging for direct pickup and
processing, ensuring that valuable metals can
be reused and recycled for future electronics.
For customers like banks that have to worry
about sensitive data that might be encoded on
old computers, CloudBlue can also process
the waste onsite. With all this, the company
can ensure that no e-waste will ever end up in
a landfill — or worse, poisoning a child in
Africa or China.