The StEP logo will signal to consumers that e-scrap processes associated with a company's products conform to agreed international standards and guidelines.

OECD figures show global trade of information and communication technologies (ICT) amounted to 1.33 trillion in 2004, 7.7 per cent of gross world product. Trade of ICT goods accounts for roughly 4 per cent of America's GDP, and 5 per cent and 7 per cent, respectively, of Japan's and Germany's GDP.

Annual E-Scrap Today Would Fill Line of Dump Trucks Spanning Half The Globe

E-scrap is one of the fastest growing components of the global waste stream and, arguably, one of the most troublesome. The European Environmental Agency calculates that the volume of e-scrap is now rising roughly three times faster than other forms of municipal waste. The total annual global volume of e-scrap is soon expected to reach roughly 40 million metric tons enough to fill a line of dump trucks stretching half way around the world.

Rapid product innovations and replacement, especially in ITC and office equipment the migration from analog to digital technologies and to flat-screen TVs and monitors, for example is fueling an increase of e-waste, says Mr. Kuehr.

In 2004, one-half of German households were equipped with a personal computer, a figure that jumped to three-quarters by the end of 2006. The same 75 per cent rate also applies to households in Japan (compared with just .07 per cent in Niger, 1.2 per cent in India, 2.3 per cent in Bolivia and 4.1 per cent in China). The sale of electronic products market is expected to continue growing in developing markets and industrialized ones, where there is a rising tendency to own more than one computer, telephone etc.

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Contact: Terry Collins
terrycollins@rogers.com
416-538-8712
United Nations University
6-Mar-2007