1 International activities on E-waste and guidelines for future work Eric Williams United Nations University, Tokyo, Japan Abstract The status of knowledge of e-waste issues is surveyed from an international perspective. Existing estimations of domestic generation and international flows of e-waste are reviewed. While initial estimates suggest that there is a substantial and increasing mass of waste to be handled, analysis is clearly in its infancy. The status of international research on green electronics and e-waste is also surveyed. Thus far work has focused more on issues relevant to the developed world, in particular manufacturers. Surprisingly, there is a significant lack of risk assessments addressing leaching of heavy metals from electronics from landfills, despite the fact that this concern has been a major driver of legislative activity around the world to curb the use of landfills as an end- of-life option. NGOs have spearheaded research into the e-waste problem in developing countries, with response emerging from research communities in Europe and Japan. Also, the context for developing future research activities to solve the e-waste problem is discussed. One key issue is the multi-criteria nature of the challenge: it is desirable to maximize reuse of equipment and economic development while minimizing environmental burdens and economic costs. Multi-stakeholder aspects are also important: the issue is politically contentious, both within and between nations. It is argued that, to the extent possible, effective research requires collaboration between different regions and societal sectors, and debate on solutions should be rigorous and take place in a neutral arena. Keywords e-waste, materials flows, research needs, environmental impacts Corresponding author: Eric Williams United Nations University 5-53-70 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku Tokyo 152-8925 Tel: 81-3-5467-1352, Fax: 81-3-3406-7346, E-mail: Williams@hq.unu.edu Appearing in Proceedings of the Third Workshop on Material Cycles and Waste Management in Asia, National Institute of Environmental Sciences: Tsukuba, Japan (2005)