“Because the international volume and movement of obsolete electronics is growing exponentially, there is an urgent need for collaborative efforts and knowledge sharing between researchers, industry, the public and nonprofit sectors to ensure the safe processing of e-waste,” said Leigh. “We want to foster market-based approaches and innovative strategies for processing electronic waste that will lead to new products, business activity and jobs in metropolitan areas or world cities where most of the waste is being generated.“
The forum was co-hosted by the China National Electric Apparatus Institute and included participants from several major appliance companies in China; the United States Environmental Protection Agency, National Institute of Standards and Technology and the Institute for Scrap Recycling Industries; Georgia’s largest electronics scrap recycler, Molam International; and researchers from Georgia Tech, the University of Washington-Seattle, MIT, Sichuan University and Tsinghua University, among others.