Information Technology and Computing - Essay Example

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction: 2 2. Identifying the problem: 4 3. Toxic substances includedin the manufacture of hardware: 6 4. IT & Energy Conservation: 7 5. Solving the dilemma: 8 Initiatives to solve the problem: 8 HCL’s ecoSafe Program is such an initiative, to help promote recovery and recycling of EEE. This program encourages its customers to help recycle end-of-life products by facilitating separate collection and recycling by authorized recyclers in an environmentally friendly manner. 9 6. Conclusion: 13 1. Introduction: The effects accomplishments of Computing are innovative in many different fields of life. Over the last few decades, computing and information technology has made notable changes in the different facets of life. While we consider the advantages and positive effects that computers brought to life, it is doubtless that every one will agree. But little attention has been paid, to its negative effect on the natural environment. How the computers and the environment is related .Is it a fruitful relation? Not at all…… The Electronic device manufacturers are competing to introduce a wide range of products in to the market and every company is competing to enhance the range of their product line. The PC growth is at 15 per cent a year and mobile phone purchase is growing at about 30 per cent. IT professionals, teenagers, housewives, senior citizens, Whatever the slot an individual fall into, every one finds more or less usage of computers in their day to day life. We even can’t think of a day without it. But thinking the other side of this, what it brings to its environment? Studies on this topic are bringing shocking results. The technology which which brings all the developments to mankind itself going to destroy the nature which is the base for existence of the mankind. Thinking seriously of what happens when a computer or any hardware part or a mobile phone become unuseful? Where do these parts or systems go? Where does all the unwanted or unusable stuff land up? Considering the technology changes and the average life span of the components of a computer, the average life of a computer has been estimated to three-five years only. All these end up as what so called E –waste (Electronic waste) or Waste from Electronic and Electrical Equipment (WEEE). E-waste or `electronic waste refers to equipment or products having a battery or an electrical cord, which have become obsolete, either due to advancement in technology, changes in fashion, style and status, or are nearing the end of their useful life. E-waste generally consists of obsolete electronic devices such as computers, servers, mainframes, monitors, TVs and display devices, telecommunication devices such as cellular phones, calculators, audio and video devices, printers, scanners, copiers and fax machines, besides refrigerators, air-conditioners, washing machines, microwave ovens and toys. It also covers recording devices such as DVDs, CDs, floppies, tapes; electronic components such as chips, processors, mother boards, printed circuit boards and industrial electronics. Such wastes are generated by manufacturers, distributors, retailers, consumers, re-users and recyclers and can subsequently arise also from individual households, Government, public and private sectors, importers and secondary markets for old PCs, cell-phones etc. As obsolete or worn out electronic items are discarded by companies and individuals, the e-waste pile mounts. This is no longer a subject of academic discussion at environment forums. Instead, there is a growing realization that the issue may assume dangerous proportions over the next few years, if left unaddressed. Technology is changing day by day. The size and the shape bring variety in product lines. Every year the number of transistor that gets integrated in to an ic increases exponentially. ([1] Moores law describes an important trend in the history of computer hardware that the number of transistors that can be inexpensively placed on anintegarted circuit is increasing exponentially, doubling approximately every two years Visa vis thte processing capacity, performance increases.). Even though it points to the performance of computers indirectly is pointing to the usage of semiconductor materials. 2. Identifying the problem: People say, the information technology (IT) is associated with a clean and safe environment. Actually this is far from the truth. Considering its background processing’s in the manufacture field it seems, the tidiness seen in the infrastructures of IT is only peripheral. The manufacture of hardware involves the use of thousands of materials. Many of these materials are highly toxic, for example Lithium -a major component in laptops, CPUs and mobile phones. The ominous thing for developing countries is that much of this e-waste is being dumped in their territories due to their lax monitoring of waste imports. According to some surveys conducted by the Basel Action Network (BAN) and Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition (SVTC) as much as 80 per cent of electronic waste collected for recycling in the U.S. was shipped to Asia, mainly China, India and Pakistan, where environmentally destructive processing and disposal such as open burning, acid baths and plain dumping are carrying out. This will create environmental and health hazards. Lead and cadmium in computer circuit boards, special gases used in semiconductor manufacture, lead oxide and barium in computer monitors cathode ray tubes, mercury in switches and flat screens, and brominates flame retardants on printed circuit boards, cables and plastic casing-create many hazardous health problems to human . Comprehensive health impacts of these mixtures and material combinations in the products are often not fully known yet. But international researches has revealed that production workers in the IT industry ,experience premature death, elevated rates of cancer, neurological disorders, miscarriages and giving birth to children with severe birth defects. In addition, new evidence is revealing that computer recycling employees have high levels of dangerous chemicals in their blood. Currently, e-waste recycling, especially processing, remains concentrated in the informal sector, where the subsequent handling is undertaken by men, women and children under primitive conditions, causing a serious threat to human and environmental health. United Nations environmental treaty which classifies CRT glass, mercury switches, lead found in the solder on circuit boards and other items of computer scrap as hazardous waste and mandates a global ban on the export of hazardous wastes. Workers in the informal sector are unaware of the health and environmental hazards involved in operations which include open burning of plastics and wires, riverbank acid works to extract gold, melting and burning of toxic soldered circuit boards, and the cracking and dumping of toxic lead laden cathode ray tubes. The poor processing technologies and very small capacities, contributes significantly to pollution and environmental degradation. Disposal of electronic products and the challenges associated with end-of-life management of electronic products has become a serious problem of this decade. 3. Toxic substances included in the manufacture of hardware: The following table illustrates some of the toxic substance involved in the manufacturing process and how it affects human body. Source Substance Effect on human body Relays and Switches, circuit boards Mercury (Hg) Damage TO brain, Respiratory and skin disorders Front panel of CRT Monitors Barium (Ba) Damage to heart, liver and spleen Muscle weakness Plastic Housing Brominated flame retardants Disrupts endocrine system functions. Suspected of blocking hormones and impairing some biological processes Solder in circuit boards, glass panels and gaskets in monitors Lead (Pb) Damage to central and peripheral nervous system, blood system and kidney Affects brain development in children Corrosion protection of steel plates Hexavalent chromium Asthmatic bronchitis, DNA damage Mother board Beryllium (Be) Skin diseases such as warts, Carcinogenic diseases (Lung cancer) 4. IT & Energy Conservation: The IT industry also consumes a communitys resources like water, power etc. One semiconductor plant alone can require enough electricity to power a city of 60,000 and several million gallons of water a day. Irresponsible handling of chemicals that used in manufacturing over the past few decades, have resulted in highly contaminated groundwater and severe community health problems in a number of countries including, the U.S., Japan, Mexico and Scotland. The case of developing countries, also not far from the critical situation. The consumption of non renewable sources of energy like fossil fuels, also add to the seriousness of the dilemma. Studies shows the supply chain use of energy, chemicals in the supply chain yielding a 32MB DRAM memory chip showed that at least 1,200 grams of fossil fuels and 72 grams of chemicals are needed to produce one 2-gram memory chip. The production chain yielding silicon wafers from quartz uses 160 times the energy required for typical silicon, indicating that purification to semiconductor materials is energy intensive. A study regarding the total energy used in producing a desktop computer with 17-inch CRT monitor estimates that 6,400 mega joules (MJ), equivalent to 260 kg of fossil fuels. This high energy needs for of manufacturing, combined with rapid turnover in computers, results in an annual life cycle energy burden that is surprisingly high: about 2,600 MJ per year, 1.3 times that of a refrigerator. In contrast with many home appliances, life cycle energy use of a computer is dominated by production (80%) as opposed to operation (20%). Extension of usable lifespan (e.g. by reselling or upgrading) is a promising approach to mitigating energy impacts, as well as other environmental burdens associated with manufacturing and disposal*. The health and environmental problems associated with the making of IT equipment are limited to the regions around the manufacturing nodes. But a much bigger and more widespread ecological disaster is due to another reason — the universal adoption of IT all over the globe and the rapid obsolescence of IT products. This has led to mountains of obsolete IT products, particularly PCs, monitors and printers occupying landfills, where their highly toxic contents can eventually reach the soil and groundwater. "E-waste has become one of the worlds fastest growing and most toxic waste streams. 5. Solving the dilemma: Initiatives to solve the problem: To tackle the growing e-waste crisis measures should be taken as early as possible. Within a few years, as the usage of computers increases the pile of e-waste will be multiplying and our IT dreams will be changing to nightmares. Environmentalists worldwide are talking on the matter. But this is not a matter, which can be slowly processed as the growth in the industry; growth in the usage and growth in the E -waste generation shows an exponential graph. And some initiatives like BAN (Basel Action Network), Green Peace Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition (SVTC), with support from Toxics Link India, Greenpeace ,China and SCOPE of Pakistan, etc have already started to facilitate approaches towards the sustainable handling of e-waste. Simultaneously PC manufacturers too are gearing up to do their bit. IT hardware companies, and the industry itself is keen to partner with the Government to address the problem, to ensure a foolproof e-waste management system. Many manufacturers like HCL, Dell etc are planning massive operations, which are being put in place to create necessary infrastructure to manage the E-Waste. HCL’s ecoSafe Program is such an initiative, to help promote recovery and recycling of EEE. This program encourages its customers to help recycle end-of-life products by facilitating separate collection and recycling by authorized recyclers in an environmentally friendly manner. Legal Prevention: Another suggestion includes the implementation of legislation to make the manufacture responsible for the entire lifecycle of its IT products. By this companies have to take full financial and physical responsibility for their products throughout their life cycle, including end of life recycling, reuse, or disposal. Where countries have enacted environmental regulations the computer industry has responded by developing sustainable products, accepting their responsibility throughout those products lifecycles, encouraging reuse of materials, and working toward environmentally sound disposal. Some significant examples of laws in this regard include: [1] The European Unions (EU) Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) and Reduction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) Directives, both adopted by the EUs Parliament in October 2002, which demands the elimination of certain hazardous materials and set standards for producer responsibility for recycling and take back. [2] The Appliance Recycling Law, Japan adopted in 2001, requires take back of certain electronic products. The Pollution Release and Transfer Registry (PRTR), is driving the disclosure of chemical use in production. [3] In 2001, a national Computer Take back Campaign (CTBC) was started in the U.S. which promotes "clean and green production and extended producer responsibility (EPR). While there are no national laws or regulations, California and Massachusetts have banned land filling cathode ray tube monitors and televisions because of the lead content in the glass. Several other states and municipalities in US are considering similar legislation. However, there are no sufficient laws for e-waste management today and large quantities of it find their way into the unorganized sector. Finding alternatives to solve the problem: Researches are going on to find alternatives for these toxic substances. A redesign initiative by the electronics industry will, essentially, involve a change in the raw materials that it uses. Lead, for instance, which is used widely on circuit boards and in cathode ray tubes to block radiation. As of now, the industry hasnt been able to come up with a viable alternative to lead. PC manufacturers could, of course, speed up the replacement of CRT monitors with flat-panel screens, but this would merely mean the use of a higher level of mercury, which is almost as dangerous as lead. And, if mercury is banned, the energy-efficient mercury lamps will have to go — which throws up the possibility of an even more adverse effect on the environment caused by a higher release of mercury from coal-fired power plants and, of course, higher costs to the industry and, by extension, consumers. Generally speaking, it will be impossible to remove all the toxics from the design of computers. Upcoming technologies like nano technology, nano wires are expected to minimize the problem up to an extend. Around 2015, manufacturers will start to move toward hybrid chips, which combine elements of traditional transistors with newfangled technology such as nanowires. A full conversion to new types of chips may not be that much easier; however experts expect a complete conversion by 2020s. However it is hopeful that manufacturers of computers are using less environmentally toxic materials, and most large corporations/institutions have started implementing policies with regard to the use of computers and the conservation of energy to pursue an environment- friendly agenda. Introduction of a take-back policy, recycling and the implementation of a phase out policy for hazardous materials are some other measures that can be taken over this crisis. Spreading awareness among the public regarding electronic waste, as well as providing training to the unorganized sector for best practices will also make the condition better. Components of IT hardware can be manufactured using alternate substances. A majority of IT companies import computers under custom bonding. A custom-bonded computer, once its lifecycle of three years is over, is either donated to schools or destroyed in the presence of customs officials so it cannot be reused. Moreover, it would be wise to act well before environment problems become unmanageable. First, e-waste itself needs to be defined properly. Then there are questions of who pays for proper disposal of it. In Europe and Japan, manufacturers pay for recycling of products or the same is built into the cost of the product. A similar model will be difficult to follow in the markets of countries like India and China, as any escalation in the price of the product, after accounting for the cost of e-waste disposal, will drive customers towards the grey market or the unorganized sector." Computer and Scrap Electronics Disposal: Certainly e-waste management is a cause for concern. Recycling, refurbishment, re-sale are some of the optable suggestions in dealing with the problem. But amazingly, less than 10 per cent of outdated computer products are refurbished or recycled. Some steps involved in the current system of E –Waste management are given below. (1) Computers that can be re-used or recycled without processing (i.e. donated to technical schools for training) should be turned over to the Campus Property Manager for recording and transfer to recycle; unwanted computers managed in this manner are exempt from hazardous waste control laws. (2) Computers, monitors, and other scrap electronics that have no re-use value should be collected in the same manner. (3) IT Shop: Collect all waste printed circuit boards and other internal computer components that may contain regulated heavy metals. These can be collected in a box or in an EHS-provided fiberboard cylinder. These components are transferred to recycle with other computers. Remove batteries from uninterruptible power supplies and other equipment destined for Recycle. Keep batteries/UPSs separate from other electronic equipment. (4) Facilities-Recycling: Waste computers and scrap electronics will be stored in the caged area at Recycle. EHS will arrange for off-site recycling when they are full. (5) Once processed, the glass from computer monitors can be sold to domestic CRT makers. 6. Conclusion: With mobile telephony zooming off, we can soon see millions of handsets joining the scrap heap every year in the near future. To this pile, adding lakhs of CRT monitors every year, especially when LCD monitors start coming down in price. Government should come up with legislation compelling vendors to initiate a take back and recycle mechanism; else the dream could well end up in an ecological nightmare. The failure to pass crucial legislation in many countries has allowed the computer industry to resist addressing many criticisms, such as the amount of hazardous material used to make their products and the ever-growing pile of waste that results from the dynamic pace of innovation in the Information Technology (IT) industry. As a result, double standards may exist between countries, as well as within companies. MNC will start shipping machines free of the toxic chemicals, in which the law is strict and will ship machines with toxic substances, where law is flexible. So what the basic need is a global law to tackle with the global crisis. Reference Williams, E. (2004). Energy intensity of computer manufacturing: Hybrid analysis combining process and economic input-output methods, Environmental Science and Technology. Vol.38. Iss.22. P.6166 – 6174. Williams, E. (2004). The environmental impacts of semiconductor fabrication, Thin Fold Films. Vol.461. Iss.1.P.2-6. Kuehr, R et al., Kuehr, R., & Williams, E. (Eds). (2003). Computers and the environment—an introduction to understanding and managing their impacts, Computers and the Environment: Understanding and Managing their Impacts, Springer. P.1-16. In the Spotlight Global E-Waste Problem, Step. Retrieved Jun 19, 2008, from http://www.step-initiative.org Today’s featured article, Wikipedia. Retrieved Jun 19, 2008, from http://en.wikipedia.org Feilhauer, Matthias. (2007). India: New e-waste report by ToxicsLink (Sept 2007), Incommunicado. Retrieved Jun 19, 2008, from www.incommunicado.info Read More