Electronics industry struggles toward zero waste

For many manufacturers in the electronics industry, only 20 percent of materials purchased actually end up in finished products. That waste is not only bad for the environment, it’s bad for the bottom line, according to Pam Gordon, president and founder of Technology Forecasters Inc. in Alameda, Calif. Gordon will challenge that waste during a Zero Waste Forum in San Jose on December 5 – 6.

Some companies are trying to end that waste. “Leading companies around the world – including Nokia, NEC and Sun Microsystems – have responded to the zero waste challenge by rethinking the materials they select for products, packaging and facilities,” says Gordon. “Five years from now business leaders will look back at this time and wonder how anyone made a profit given that four out of five purchases ended up in administrative uses, obsolete and excess materials, off-yield subassemblies and products, post-production scrap, unnecessary packaging, too many components, one-time-use materials, and other forms of waste the deter from the bottom line.”

John Dickenson, VP at AER Worldwide, an electronics-recycling company, will discuss AER’s approach to zero waste.