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Personal computers have made life convenient in many ways, but what about their impacts on the environment due to production, use and disposal? Manufacturing computers requires prodigious quantities of fossil fuels, toxic chemicals and water. Rapid improvements in performance mean we often buy a new machine every 1-3 years, which adds up to mountains of waste computers. How should societies respond to manage these environmental impacts? This volume addresses the environmental impacts and management of computers through a set of analyses on issues ranging from environmental assessment, technologies for recycling, consumer behaviour, strategies of computer manufacturing firms, and government policies. One conclusion is that extending the lifespan of computers (e.g. through reselling) is an environmentally and economically effective strategy that deserves more attention from governments, firms and the general public.
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COMPUTERS AND THE ENVIRONMENT: UNDERSTANDING AND MANAGING THEIR IMPACTS ECO-EFFICIENCY IN INDUSTRY AND SCIENCE VOLUME 14 Series Editor: Arnold Tukker, TNO-STB, Delft, The Netherlands Editorial Advisory Board: Martin Charter, Centre for Sustainable Design, The Surrey Institute of Art & Design, Farnham, United Kingdom John Ehrenfeld, International Society for Industrial Ecology, New Haven, U.S.A. Gjalt Huppes, Centre of Environmental Science, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands Reid Lifset, Yale University School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, New Haven, U.S.A. Theo de Bruijn, Center for Clean Technology and Environmental Policy (CSTM), University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands The titles published in this series are listed at the end of this volume. Computers and the Environment: Understanding and Managing their Impacts Edited by Ruediger Kuehr United Nations University, Zero Emissions Forum, European Focal Point, Hamburg, Germany and Eric Williams United Nations University, Environmental and Sustainable Development Programme, Tokyo, Japan .... " SPRINGER-SCIENCE+BUSINESS MEDIA, BV. A C.I.P. Catalogue record for this book is available from the Library of Congress. ISBN 978-1-4020-1680-6 ISBN 978-94-010-0033-8 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-94-010-0033-8 Printed on acid-free paper Cover: "superfuture media; www.superfuture.com/supermedia" All Rights Reserved © 2003 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht Originally published by Kluwer Academic Publishers United Nations University in 2003 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2003 No part of this work may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording or otherwise, without written permission from the Publisher, with the exception of any material supplied specifically for the purpose of being entered and executed on a computer system, for exclusive use by the purchaser of the work. TABLE OF CONTENTS Preface by Eric Williams and Ruediger Kuebr .......................... vii Computers and the Environment-An Introduction To Understanding and Managing their Impacts Ruediger Kuehr, German T. Velasquez, Eric Williams ............. 1 2. Information Technology Products and the Environment H. Scott Matthews and Deanna H. Matthews ............................ 17 3. Environmental Impacts in the Production of Personal Computers Eric Williams ........................................................................... 41 4. How the European Union's WEEE Directive Will Change the Market for Electronic Equipment-Two Scenarios Klaus Hieronymi and Axel Schneider ....................................... 73 5. IBM's Environmental Management of Product Aspects Reinhard Hohn and Anne Brinkley .............................