There are now more mobile phones than people in the world, and e-waste is one of the largest growing waste streams. Focusing on the tail end of the material life cycle of e-products, this Note raises issues regarding e-waste pollution including how the global trade of this hazardous waste creates informal economies that can be harmful to human health and the environment. The international community has addressed the global e-waste trade since the 1990s, with an international agreement called the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal. Although signed by the United States, the Convention has not been ratified by Congress and is therefore not binding law. This Note proposes a domestic policy measure that could reduce the amount of e-waste created: the right-to-repair with a repairability index. This policy gives potential consumers for electronic devices a score based on how repairable an item is on a scale from one to ten, thus encouraging consumers to repair their electronic goods before recycling them. Inspired by a French policy, this proposal is one solution to the global e-waste problem.
How Can a Mandatory Right-to-Repair Address the Global E-Waste Problem?
