单项选择题

The high-tech revolution has inspired a seemingly endless stream of new and exciting electronic products that we just can’t live without. In fact, the dizzying speed of technological innovation can make last year’s must this year’s junk.
And that’s the problem. The average life span at personal computer has shrunk to around 19 months--and this has nothing to do with worn-out mice or damaged disk drives. Simply put, electronic products can become obsolete before you’ve even figured out how they work.
So what happens to all those old keyboards, monitors, organizers and CPUs Most are stashed away in the attic or forgotten in a corporate warehouse, taking up valuable space. But many end up in landfills, and that is where the trouble really begins.
Computer monitors can contain up to 3.5 kg of lead and can actually be considered hazardous waste once they are no longer in use. Circuit boards in electronic products contain cadmium(镉), chromium(铬) and mercury, all of which are toxic substances that can leach into groundwater if left in a landfill.
Unfortunately, this disposal problem is not going to disappear anytime soon--in fact, it is growing by the minute. In Japan alone, consumers throw away some 20 million TVs, washing machines, refrigerators and air conditioners each year. In Europe, 6 million metric tons of electrical and electronic equipment were generated in 1998 alone, and that volume is expected to increase three to five percent per year--which means by 2010 it could nearly double.
What’s to be done with all this techno-trash
Electronics manufacturers are working hard to answer this question. The European Commission has proposed a directive that would require all electronics manufacturers to take back and properly dispose of all electronic products, regardless of their age. The details are still being ironed out, but some version of the directive will most probably become law in the next few years. Similar legislation is in the work in the U.S. and has already passed in Japan.
As the costs of such programs could quickly become prohibitive, companies are searching for new ways of tackling disposal issues before they become a problem.
One way to reduce waste is to avoid throwing thing in the first place. Many companies reuse parts from old products in new models. This is not cheating--it makes both environmental and economic sense.
We can learn from the passage that high-tech companies ______.