Doctoral Dissertation Research: Second-hand Technologies or E-waste? The Composition of Germany's Progressive Environmental Legislation

Cornell University, Ithaca NY

Investigators

Abstract

Second-hand Technologies or E-waste? The Composition of Germany?s Progressive Environmental Legislation Summary This doctoral dissertation examines the politics and practices of contemporary management of waste from electrical and electronic equipment (e-waste or WEEE) in Germany. Contrary to predictions that the digital revolution would lead to less resource-intensive and thus more environmentally sustainable societies, it is becoming increasingly apparent that high-tech lifestyles are not as clean and green as many would like to believe. In fact, global consumption of digital technologies such as personal computers, cell phones and iPods is exacting significant environmental and health costs. The environmental and social impact of a technological artifact extends over its entire lifecycle. However, until recently, little attention has been focused on technologies once they become waste. Intellectual merit Through ethnographic and archival research this project reconstructs how social actors, ranging from policymakers to multi-national recycling firms to informal recyclers, transform discarded technologies once they are placed on the curb in Germany. Germany?s reputation as a model when it comes to waste management and environmentalism more generally, coupled with its status as Europe?s largest e-waste producer and exporter, make it a particularly powerful site to understand the tensions and contradictions between national attempts to address e-waste and the existence of globalized licit and illicit e-waste networks that unequally distribute the pollution and wealth associated with the recycling and reuse of discarded technologies across the globe. This project addresses the lack of scholarship on the afterlife of discarded technologies in Germany. It also connects the analytical dynamic between S&TS and Development Sociology to contemporary policy decisions, particularly decisions pertaining to the intersection of technology, the environment and development. Broader impact In a time when countries across the globe are struggling to manage their e-waste, this study of Germany offers important clues to the challenges associated with developing efficient and responsible e-waste management systems. Furthermore, this project provides a concrete ethnographic and archival study of the effects and limitations of national formulations of environmental policies in an uneven globalized economy.