E-waste at Memorial University of Newfoundland: moving along the rubbish is not taking out the trash

McNabb, Christopher Anthony (2013) E-waste at Memorial University of Newfoundland: moving along the rubbish is not taking out the trash. Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

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Abstract

Electronic waste (e-waste) as a research subject is relatively new. Studies of electronic waste have tended to focus upon what are termed 'end-of-life' issues around discarded electronic devices. What has developed in the last decade is primarily a story of rich countries dumping their unwanted electronic equipment on the unsuspecting poor in developing countries, with serious environmental and human health impacts resulting. This thesis challenges this simple narrative by examining the practices of electronics disposal at a Canadian university. This examination of disposal practices illustrates both that the simple narrative emerging from current e-waste research is problematic because not all that is discarded becomes waste, but also because mandatory electronics recycling is likely to shift negative environmental and occupational impacts related to electronics disposal from one place to another rather than ameliorate them.

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