RECYCLING COMPUTERS

摘要

The post-industrial information economy is often mistakenly characterized as heralding an era of "dema-terialization" because tiny semiconductors, the base ingredient for computer chips and electronic devices, yield high value and utility. But semiconductors are in fact more materials-intensive than most "traditional" goods. A single 32-megabyte microchip requires at least 72 grams of chemicals, 700 grams of elemental gases, 32,000 grams of water, and 1, 200 grams of fossil fuels. Another 440 grams of fossil fuels are used to operate the chip during its typical life span―four years of operation for three hours a day. The total mass of secondary materials used to produce the two-gram chip is 630 times that of the final product. For comparison, the resources needed to build a car weigh about twice as much as the final product. The chips are made in "clean rooms" free of dust and other particles that can spoil the delicate silicone wafers. But workers in these rooms are exposed to a host of chemicals that might be associated with cancers, miscarriages, and birth defects. These facilities also generate huge volumes of chemical waste that have contaminated groundwater at numerous high-tech sites.