Lines of assembly workers at an electronics facility in China create standard components that will be used in brand name computers.

High-Tech Industry History
In 1965, Gordon Moore, one of the visionary founders of Intel, predicted that the high-tech industry could double computing speed and power every two years. This vision, referred to as “Moore’s Law,” has been realized. Who would have thought even a decade ago that a wallet sized mobile phone could also take pictures, hold our schedules and address books, surf the internet and allow us to text message from almost anywhere. Though the industry has made dazzling technological advancements in the functioning of their products, they have not used this same ingenuity to advance green technologies that have less impact on public health and our environment. The result has been a wake of unintended collateral damage on communities around the globe. Learn More

The Globalization of Toxic Manufacturing
There are more than 1,000 chemicals used during electronics production and many are known to be hazardous to human health, including lead, mercury and cadmium. Chip manufacturing is especially dangerous with thousands of gallons of toxic solvents used to clean microscopic dust and dirt off the chips. Manufacturing workers and the communities surrounding high-tech facilities are exposed to these toxics and have developed higher rates of cancer, reproductive problems and illness. This began in Silicon Valley, California, and as communities held the industry accountable, companies spread their facilities around the globe in countries with weaker environmental and worker safety laws. Learn More

High-Tech Companies Social Performance
We’ve all heard of brand electronics companies like IBM, Apple, HP, Dell and Sony. But behind these companies are chip manufacturers like Intel and AMD, components makers like Fujitsu and dozens of sub-contractors around the globe who contribute to the making of a single laptop computer. All of these companies have different standards for environmental and social performance, and many name brands hide behind their contractors when it comes to pollution, environmental protections and worker health and safety. Learn More

The Toxic Electronics Lifecycle From Cradle to Coffin
Throughout the electronics production chain from the mining of raw materials - to the processing of plastic components - to the manufacturing of chips - to the disposal of e-waste, communities around the globe have been endangered by high-tech pollution. Water has become undrinkable, land unfarmable and people are suffering from cancer, miscarriages and illness because of exposure to toxic chemicals during electronics production and disposal. Unfortunately, it is most often low income people of color, immigrants and families from impoverished developing countries who are disproportionately impacted by these problems. Learn More

Producer Take-Back or Extended Producer Responsibility
In the early stages of the technology revolution, the concept of EPR or Producer Take-Back was considered radical, but it is now more standard as the public has grown more concerned with how electronics are made and disposed. EPR extends the responsibility of electronics companies for their products beyond production and sale. Learn More