• More than 22 million computers are sold each year in the United States. Most of these become obsolete in little more than two years.
• More than 6000 computers become obsolete every day in California! Most of these are stored in back rooms and warehouses because people are unsure of how to properly dispose of them. However, an increasing number are finding their way into the waste stream.
• E-Waste represents from two to five percent of the U.S. municipal solid waste stream.
• An estimated 300,000 tons of E-Waste went into landfills in the U.S. in 2000 and the problem is expected to grow four-fold in the next few years.
• E-waste contains significant quantities of toxic materials. Each computer or television display monitor contains an average of 4-8 pounds of lead.  Monitor glass contains about 20 percent lead by weight.
• About 70 percent of the heavy metals (including mercury and cadmium) found in landfills come from electronic equipment discards.  These heavy metals and other hazardous substances found in electronics can contaminate groundwater and pose other environmental and public health risks.
• The State of California Department of Toxic Substance Control has established that it is illegal to dispose of CRTs in landfills.  (CRT Emergency Regulation)
• Due to advances in chip technology, the life span of a computer has been reduced from perhaps 4-5 years to approaching 2 years or less.
• Second hand dealers (Thrift shops, Salvation Army, and other not for profit groups) and Waste Haulers or those in the traditional recycling business are unsure
  about how to handle equipment they are receiving and what disposal options are legally available to them. 

“Computers, E-Waste, and Product Stewardship: 
    Is California ready for the Challenge?”, 
        Global Futures Foundation www.globalfutures.org