SPEA grad student spans globe, leads in electronic waste recycling
"I never imagined upon entering SPEA that the following year I would be shaking hands with the President of the EU Council in Prague," says Indiana University graduate student Laura Knudsen.
As an extension of her 2008 summer internship, Knudsen authored a grant proposal that won an Energy Globe Award, one of today's most prominent environmental prizes. The award competition includes projects from all over the world, and the award ceremony, held this year in Prague, Czech Republic, was broadcast to approximately three billion households.
Laura Knudsen (left) accepts the Energy Globe award with Recycla Chile Environmental Manager Mauricio Nunez.
Energy Globe projects serve to demonstrate successful and sustainable projects to a broad audience -- with the intent that others may follow. The award committee considers approximately 800 projects and initiatives annually which compete in categories of Earth, Fire, Water, Air and Youth.
With help from Knudsen, a student in the IU School of Public and Environmental Affairs, this year's Earth award went to Recycla, a Chilean company that provides the only recycling storage site for electronic waste in all of Latin America. Recycla sent Knudsen to Prague to accept the award that it won with her help.
Knudsen described the award ceremony as having "a sense of camaraderie and a feeling that everyone is working toward the same end goal, irrespective of what country they represented." She said it was inspiring to meet so many people from around the globe committed to protecting the environment for future generations.
"When you have the opportunity to attend an event like the Energy Globe awards where these amazing personalities are in one room, you walk away with a sense that we really can make a difference during our time on this planet and we really do have the collective power to make the world a better and healthier place," Knudsen said.
The grant proposal that Knudsen wrote was titled "Solving the E-Waste Problem." It planned the sustainable disposal of electronic appliances that contain dangerous materials. Recycla disposed of and recycled 600 tons of Chile's electronic waste in 2007. Currently it recycles approximately 3 percent of Chile's electronic waste, but it plans to reach 10 percent by 2010.
Even prior to winning the award, the company was expanding rapidly, signing contracts with businesses such as Epson. While protecting the residents and the environment from dangerous electronic waste, the company creates employment opportunities for disadvantaged residents of Santiago, Chile.
Knudsen found her summer internship after intensive research. Her strong interest in Latin America and specifically electronic waste recycling led her to Recycla. While there, she was able to use her bilingual language skills, SPEA education, and specific interest in electronic waste recycling.
She attended SPEA because of the science and policy mix that the school offers. Dual environmental science and public affairs master's degrees allow her to pursue her ideal career in solid and hazardous waste management with an understanding of both public policies and the science informing those policies. When interning, she was able to bring her scientific expertise to the recycling initiatives and her economic training to weekly corporate meetings.
Back in Bloomington, Knudsen is working to address electronic waste in the U.S. She is a member of the IU Campus Task Force on Sustainability and recently helped lead Electronic Waste Collection Day at IU Bloomington. The event yielded more than 700,000 pounds of computers, televisions and other electronic equipment from IU Bloomington and Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis that is being recycled and properly disposed of.
Such initiatives are critical, as the U.S. EPA estimates only 18 percent of electronic products that reached the end of their lifecycle were recycled in 2007. These items often contain toxic materials, such as the lead that is present in cathode ray tubes of many televisions and computer monitors. If improperly disposed of, it can clutter landfills and damage the environment.
Her experiences led her to the EPA, in Washington, D.C., where she is interning this summer. She's currently working to improve community involvement and renewable energy development projects on federal pollution cleanup sites.
Says Knudsen, "I think that it is really important to try as many new experiences as possible and take advantage of as many opportunities as possible, even if you don't think you have a chance of winning a grant or being accepted to an internship. If you think of an idea or a project you want to try, keep on talking to people and researching ways to make it happen and it can definitely become a reality."
