Debates to Actors
You need to clarify what the debates are that lead from your statement.
How was this list of actors arrived at? Also, you will need to get to specific actors, not just categories of actors. Is the figure below your own, or did you derive it from somewhere else? If it is sourced from somewhere, be sure to cite it.
The growing demand for electronics, and the increasingly short life spans of these devices, means e-waste isn’t going anywhere
Claim.
“Children are digging in the ash from the burned plastics,” Puckett said. “They’re breathing in the fumes. Sometimes it happens indoors when they cook the circuit boards – children are breathing all this in.”
Claim.
Jim Puckett and BAN are actors in the controversy.
India is second only to China in e-recycling volume, followed by Nigeria, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Benin and Liberia, according to the Environmental Science and Technology study, which used 2005 as its reference year.
Claim.
Source for claim is: Breivik, Knut, James Michael Armitage, Frank Wania, and Kevin C Jones. “Tracking the Global Generation and Exports of E-Waste. Do Existing Estimates Add Up?” Environmental Science & Technology, June 26, 2014. doi:10.1021/es5021313.
The EPA-led electronics task force has also worked to provide more information on e-waste and assist developing countries that handle U.S. exports.
Claim.
EPA and Purchia is an actor in the controversy.
Claim.
Source for the 23 percent figure is:
Breivik, Knut, James Michael Armitage, Frank Wania, and Kevin C Jones. “Tracking the Global Generation and Exports of E-Waste. Do Existing Estimates Add Up?” Environmental Science & Technology, June 26, 2014. doi:10.1021/es5021313.
Consumers can make sure their electronic waste is handled properly by bringing old devices to a recycling facility certified under the e-Stewards program. E-Stewards is voluntary, and certifies that facilities are in full compliance with the Basel Convention.
Claim.
e-Stewards is an actor in the controversy.
Another Toxics Link study found that take-back policies are not always reliable in India, however. Of 50 brands studied, only seven received a “good” rating based on how easily consumers could find information and drop off old equipment. The remainder ranked from “fair” to “bad.”
Claim.
Source for claim: Toxics Link Study.
Legislation with bipartisan support currently in the House and Senate could put in place the same basic policies the EU follows, making the export of hazardous and electronic waste illegal.
Claim.
What legislation is being referred to?
US House and Senate are actors in the controversy.
“All those come at a cost, so the question is whether communities that are asking for that service are willing to pay those costs for those benefits.”
Claim.
“I think the benefits are that we would have absolute certainty over the environmental impacts and the labor standards that are being enforced, and what’s being done with the material,”
Claim.
Handling e-waste domestically would mean higher labor costs and tighter regulations on how devices are handled, and extracting valuable materials would cost more than they are actually worth. The price difference would necessitate fees to cover costs, O’Brien said.
Claim.
Jeremy O'Brien and the Solid Waste Association of North America are actors in the controversy.
The EPA supports the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal, which would bring to the U.S. the same rules that prohibit exporting e-waste from the EU. But the U.S. has yet to adopt the international treaty, which was negotiated in the late 1980s.
Claim.
E-waste still makes it out of the EU illegally, but those doing it can be prosecuted, unlike in America, Puckett said. To legally ship from the EU, Puckett said equipment must first be tested and proven functional.
Claim.
Jim Puckett is an actor in the controversy.
The soil in both Loni and Mandoli contains high levels of heavy metals and other contaminants. Soil samples from both regions contained lead, with the highest level in Loni coming in at almost 147 times the control sample
Claim.
A recent study from Toxics Link
Actor.
Toxics Link and their report [How and where has the report circulated?]
They try to repair and recycle the equipment when possible, but many pieces are irreparable.
Claim.
In Ghana, Puckett said he has seen mostly orphans – anywhere from 12 to 20 years old – working in a slum, burning discarded electronics and releasing toxic fumes into the air.
Claim.
E-waste is exported largely for the same reason manufacturing jobs have been sent overseas: lower labor costs and fewer regulatory burdens
Claim
The EPA, one of the lead agencies on the Interagency Task Force on Electronics Stewardship established by the Obama administration, recognizes the potential benefits of e-recycling and encourages the practice over allowing electronic junk to pile up in landfills.
Claim.
EPA and Interagency Task Force on Electronics Stewardship are actors.
Recycling electronics, it’s been argued, could help developing nations transcend the “digital divide,” as well as grow information and communications technologies in places that need to catch up. Even if devices don’t work, some say recycling could provide spare parts and valuable metals like copper.
Claim.
Who is being referred to in the phrase "some say"?
But when a person recycles a television, for instance, there's a chance it could end up exported to a country like China, India or Nigeria, where workers at informal recycling operations often use crude, hazardous techniques to extract valuable metals from the equipment and then burn what’s left.
Claim.
The reference to "a chance" is interesting. Note the geography here, too.
The average American household owns more than 20 electronic products
Claim.
What is the EPA source for claim of "20 electronic products"?
23 percent
This is a middle range figure derived from calculations presented in Breivik, Knut, James Michael Armitage, Frank Wania, and Kevin C Jones. “Tracking the Global Generation and Exports of E-Waste. Do Existing Estimates Add Up?” Environmental Science & Technology, June 26, 2014. doi:10.1021/es5021313.
The developed world has in the past exported an estimated 23 percent of its electronic waste to seven developing countries, according to a study published in June by the journal Environmental Science and Technology.
Claim.
The authors of the study are actors in the controversy.
Source is: Breivik, Knut, James Michael Armitage, Frank Wania, and Kevin C Jones. “Tracking the Global Generation and Exports of E-Waste. Do Existing Estimates Add Up?” Environmental Science & Technology, June 26, 2014. doi:10.1021/es5021313.
Some of the disused computers, cellphones, televisions and other products are locally generated, but the developed world – especially the U.S. – is responsible for sending many of the items.
Note ambiguity here. How much is "some". How many is "many".
A rising mountain of hazardous electronic waste is putting workers in developing countries and the environment at risk.
Claim.
Comment: The mountain metaphor is a recurrent one in media portrayals of e-waste. Note its geologic connotations...a certain Anthropocenic image?
l experience increase with rising GDP
This is a specialist term that deserves definition. Imagine an undergraduate student reading your encyclopedia entry (recall, undergraduates are one of the audiences described in the assignment).
o Convention on t
Similarly to my comment about the previous section, I think you need a discussion of why these theories are important to the broader topic you are reviewing.
ountries to developing co
I see what you are doing in this section: breaking out the most commonly used concepts in the corpus of literature you are reviewing. However, I think that in addition you need to offer a more explicit discussion of your intentions in this section, for example, perhaps a discussion of why these concepts matter to the overall topic would help.
ational trade system cannot degrade environment endog
It is not clear what you mean here. Perhaps you could explain more clearly what you are trying to communicate.
A better word choice might be "peaks".
ternation
As a matter of style, I recommend using the present tense and doing so consistently throughout your writing. One good resource is the classic "Chicago manual of Style".
envi
In my view, it is better to avoid these kinds of constructions. For one, this assignment is not a thesis. It is more like an essay.
get information of the literature’s abstr
Do you mean that excluded literature published before the year 2000? This is also a methodological choice which effects results, thus it warrants some discussion of justification.
vironment’,’trade’,’trad
Why 30 times and not another cutoff? This kind of methodological choice makes a difference to results and thus deserves some discussion of its justification.