ABS.  Acrylonitrile butadiene stryrene.  An engineered polymer used in some electronics.

Asset recovery.  Typically involves an electronics reseller or reclaimer bidding on surplus property generated by large companies, government agencies and institutions.

Barium glass.  A highly viscous glass used in a cathode ray tube's panel or front plate and containing barium oxide (up to 14 percent) and strontium oxide (up to 12 percent).

Brokering.  The buying and selling of whole units or components.  A broker typically does not physically accept and store the material but rather buys the units or components for immediate resale.

Brominated flame retardants.  Chemicals used in plastics and other products to reduce the potential for burning.  Brominated flame retardants (BFRs) are used in some electronics plastics.

CD-ROM.  A device that uses a laser beam to read data from a spiral of indentations and flat layers on a layer of a compact disc. 

Capacitor.  A passive electronic component that stores energy in the form of an electrostatic field.  When fabricated onto integrated circuit chips, capacitors help maintain the contents of memory.

Cards.  Another term for printed circuit boards.

Case.  The protective shell surrounding and holding the parts of a computer.  Also called a chassis.

Cathode ray tube (CRT).  The tube which is included in conventional televisions and computer monitors.  A CRT is a vacuum-sealed video display device containing an electron gun (cathode) that emits a beam of electrons to illuminate phosphors onscreen as the beam sweeps across the screen.

Central processing unit (CPU).  A processing device, including a case and all its contents, such as the primary printed circuit board, additional printed circuit boards, one or more disc drives, interior wiring and a power cord.  Within elements of the computer manufacturing industry, a CPU may apply only to its chips.

Certified destruction.  A closely tracked and managed electronics recycling system in which the generator of an item, typically a computer, receives formal assurance, such as in the form of a certificate, that the item in question has been processed in such a manner that is inoperable.  This often takes the form of product shredding.

Chassis.  See case.

Chip.  See microchip.

Chipset.  A number of integrated circuits designed to perform one or more related functions.

Circuit board.  Printed wiring boards and attached components.  A computer consists of one or more boards (often called cards).  Synonymous with printed circuit board.  Circuit boards consist of a plastic sheet and copper sheet in which connections between electronic devices have been created by the use of a photo-resist mask and acid etching.

Copper yoke.  See yoke.

Data removal.  The removal of data from a computer hard drive.

Daughterboard.  A circuit board that plugs into and extends the circuitry of another circuit board, which may be the computer's main board (see motherboard).

Deman.  Short for demanufacturing.

Demanufacturing.  The disassembly of an electronics device to capture resellable parts and recyclable materials.

DfE.  Design for the environment; a set of practices to reduce the environmental impacts of products through their design.

DfR.  Design for recycling; a subset of DfE that addresses design elements that affect the recycling process.

Diagnostic testing.  Testing to determine what parts of electronic equipment, such as a computer, work.

Dumb terminal.  See terminal.

Dynamic-random-access memory chips.  Chips which hold electronic data temporarily and are vital components of computers.

EIA.  Electronic Industries Alliance (Arlington, Virginia), an alliance of six trade groups.

Electron gun.  The device used to project an image inside a cathode ray tube.  Color monitors have three guns (red, green and blue).

EMS.  Environmental management system; the use of standards for how the management of a facility or organization can reduce its environmental impacts.

End of life.  Refers to the time when a product's value to the user, generally the first user, has been expended and the product is available for reuse, recycling or disposal.

E-scrap.  Electronic scrap.

E-waste.  Electronic discards.

Flash memory chips.  Chips commonly used in consumer products such as cellphones.

Floppy disk drive.  A mechanism that enables a computer to read and write information on floppy disks.

FOB.  Freight on board.  This term denotes the point at which a transaction, such as the sale of separated e-scrap, occurs.  For example, "FOB supplier's dock" means that the buyer agrees to pick up the load at the supplier's site.  In comparison, "FOB pier" means the supplier must ship the load to the export dock.

Frit.  The soldering band that connects the plate glass to the funnel glass in a cathode ray tube.

Funnel glass.  The conically shaped glass in a cathode ray tube and containing up to 25 percent lead oxide.

Gaylord.  A pallet-sized box in which electronic scrap is often shipped.

HIPS.  High-impact polystyrene.  An engineered polymer used in some electronics.

Hard disk.  See hard drive.

Hard drive.  A unit that stores and provides access to data on an electromagnetically charged surface or set of surfaces.  Hard drive and hard disk are used interchangeably, although hard drive refers to the mechanical aspects of the unit while hard disk refers to the data storage elements.

Historic scrap.  Obsolete electronics previously manufactured by a firm which is still in business (also see orphan scrap).

IAER.  The International Association of Electronics Recyclers (Albany, New York).

Integrated circuit.  A semiconductor wafer on which thousands or millions of tiny resistors, capacitors and transistors are fabricated.  An integrated circuit can function as an amplifier, oscillator, timer, counter, computer memory or microprocessor.  Also called a microchip or chip. 

Mainboard.  See motherboard.

Microchip.  Tiny modules that store computer memory or provide logic circuitry for microprocessors and are commonly called chips.  A microchip is made from a silicon dioxide or sapphire wafer which is cut to size and then etched with microscopic electrical circuits and electronic devices.  A microchip is often called an integrated circuit.  Numerous types of chips are used in electronics.  For example, dynamic-random-access chips (DRAMs) are the core component of personal computers while flash memory chips are used in devices such as cell phones, MP3 players and digital cameras.  Another common type is static-random-access memory chips (SRAMs).

Microprocessor.  An integrated circuit fabricated on a small piece of silicon and containing several elements of the central processing unit, including the arithmetic-logic and control units and sometimes the floating-point unit.  Computer microprocessors have grown from the inaugural eight-bit units (such as Intel 8088 microprocessors used in the first personal computers) that handled one byte (eight bits), to 16-bit units ((Intel 8086 through 80286), to 32-bit systems (Intel 486), to 64-bit units (Intel Pentium).

Modem.  A computer device that converts digital signals to the modulated analog signals required for transmission over a telephone line, and vice versa.

Monitor.  A display device containing a cathode ray tube or flat panel display, a case, interior wires, circuitry, a cable to the CPU and a power cord.  Also called a vide display unit (VDU).

Motherboard.  A computer's main circuit board, often entailing the microprocessor, other coprocessors, memory, a basic input-output system, expansion slot and interconnecting circuitry (also see daughterboard).  A motherboard is also called a system board or a mainboard.

Multiprocessor.  A computer containing more than one central processing unit (CPU).

NEPSI.  The National Electronics Product Stewardship Initiative.

OEM.  Original equipment manufacturer.          

Open source software.  An operating system and/or applications software for which the code is open for alteration by the public.

Orphan scrap.  Obsolete electronics previously manufactured by or bearing the brand name of a company which is no longer in business (see also historic scrap).

Peripherals.  Auxiliary equipment to a computer, such as computer mice, keyboards, printers, etc.

Phosphor.  An electrofluorescent material used to coat the inside of the screen in a cathode ray tube and which glows when struck by electrons.  A typical CRT uses separate phosphor materials, one each for the three primary colors (red, blue and green).

Plate glass.  The front plate of a CRT on which the image appears.

Precious metals.  High-value, low-volume, scarce metals such as gold, palladium, platinum and silver.

Printed circuit board.  See circuit board.

Processor.  See microprocessor.

Product stewardship.  An environmental management strategy saying that those who design, produce, sell or use a product take responsibility for minimizing that product's environmental impact through all stages of the product life cycle.

PWB.  Printed wiring boards.

Reclaimer.  General term for firms processing electronic scrap.

Redeployment.  The consolidation, testing and repair of usable electronics for reuse within the originating firm, institution or government agency.

Refiner.  A metal processing operation where impurities are removed and metals are purified.

Remanufacturing.  The testing, repair or upgrading of obsolete electronics for resale.  Some remanufacturers build whole units from individual recovered components (hard drives, mother boards, etc.).

Reverse logistics.  A concept whereby an obsolete item is returned to the producer back through the original distribution system, which may include involvement of retailers and wholesalers.

Resistor.  An electrical component that regulates or limits the flow of electrical current in an electronic circuit.  Resistors are also used to provide a specific voltage for an active device such as a transistor.  Many resistors are made from a combination of finely granulated carbon mixed with clay and hardened.

Screen burn.  An image burned into a CRT because of a frequently used screen display.  CRTs with screen burns have a lower resale value than those without screen burns.

Semiconductor.  A material, such as germanium, gallium arsenide and silicon, that conducts electricity at a level somewhat between a real conductor, such as copper, and an insulator, such as plastic. 

SIMMS.  Single in-line memory modules.  A group of memory chips ganged together on small circuit boards.  SIMMS are often found on mother boards.

Sixty-four bit microprocessor.  Processor commonly found in higher-end, corporation-oriented computing devices, such as central servers and workstations.  The microprocessor can handle 64 bits of data at a time (see also thirty-two bit microprocessor).

Smart terminal.  See terminal.

Smelter.  A thermal processing operation where metals and other materials are separated.

System board.  See motherboard.

TCLP.  The toxics characteristics leaching procedure; a method authorized in federal regulations for determining a hazardous waste.

Terminal.  Typically a keyboard and display monitor with little or no software that relies on a mainframe computer.  Often called a dumb terminal and employed in multiuser systems.  Some multiuser systems employ smart terminals (a keyboard and monitor containing some processing circuitry and occasionally a disk drive to allow for the downloading and display of information).

Thirty-two bit microprocessor.  Processor commonly found in standard desktop computers.  The microprocessor can handle 32 bits of data at a time (see also sixty-four bit microprocessor).

Transistor.  A regulator of current or voltage flow.  Transistors act as a switch or gate for electronic signals.

Video display unit (VDU).  See monitor.

WEPSI.  The Western Electronic Product Stewardship Initiative.

White box.  A standard-configuration personal computer produced by a small or locally based producer. 

Yoke.  The set of electromagnets around the outside of a cathode-ray tube.  The yoke steers electrons from the electron guns to the proper pixels on the display.

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