The Electronics Revolution: From E-Wonderland to E-Wasteland

摘要

Bart Gordon, Chairman of the U.S. House Committee on Science and Technology, said that "we need our future engineers to understand that whatever they put together will eventually have to be taken apart (32)." They must also understand social, ecological, and public health consequences of their inventions. Manufacturers must adopt a cradle-to-cradle stewardship model for their products (33). S. 1397 will be most effective if its expected outcomes in research products, inventions, and workforce and public education are linked to regulatory policies that provide uniform guidance for nationwide e-waste management and "green" electronic product design in light of international, interdisciplinary dimensions of the problem.