If a picture is worth a thousand words, our language can't convey how much Americans love photography: We developed 19.4 billion pictures in 1999 alone.
All that grinning and snapping requires a huge amount of silver, an essential ingredient in photographic film and paper. During the shutter's brief click, silver-halide crystals on the unexposed film record the varying levels of light in the scene being photographed. Chemical processing then transforms the silver into a visible image. Worldwide, the photography industry consumes 230 million ounces of the precious metal each year--just behind the manufacturing of jewelry and flatware. In the United States, photography--including medical and dental X-rays and graphic arts--is the number-one consumer, using 80 million ounces of silver. That's as much as the world's two largest silver-mining companies produce in a year.
Most of the silver is washed away during processing and ends up in the fixer, the chemical solution that removes the light-sensitive silver halide from film and paper. Although the silver in photographic waste is not the most dangerous form of the metal, it can be harmful in large doses. Used fixer contains between 3,000 and 8,000 parts per million of silver--far higher than the 5 ppm threshold for EPA designation as hazardous solid waste. Depending on the individual processor and the local sewer agency's rules, the silver in this mixture may or may not be removed before it's discarded.
Guidelines that attempt to protect workers, prevent pollution, and recover used silver were published jointly in 1995 by the Silver Council and the Association of Metropolitan Sewerage Agencies and adopted by several cities, including New York. A 1997 study conducted by the two groups and the EPA showed that these practices can reduce the amount of silver that arrives at treatment plants by up to 50 percent. In the southern San Francisco Bay, the U.S. Geological Survey has watched silver levels decrease since other photo-waste recovery programs started in the early 1980s. Two decades later, silver concentrations in shellfish have declined by up to 97 percent, while reproductive rates have risen.
Nearly 100 percent of the silver used in color photography is, in
theory, recoverable, though some of the metal remains behind
on black-and-white negatives and prints, as well as X-rays. The industry's leftovers are the world's largest source of recycled silver. Responsible processors extract the metal in their own labs or ship their waste to a refiner who does it for them. Most say they can recover 90 to 95 percent. Last year, the worldwide photographic waste stream yielded about 72 million ounces of recycled silver, a third of the 230 million ounces originally used.
Amateur photographers can help by urging local officials to monitor silver discharge and enforce limits. When you take your film to be processed, ask how the store recovers its silver. If they can't answer to your satisfaction, take your business to
someone who can. (According to one industry analyst, even small-time processors can afford to invest in basic recovery equipment or send their waste out to be recycled.) Some stores tout their responsible business practices by displaying stickers or certificates from local sewer agencies, silver-refining companies, or groups like the Silver Council.
Film that's shipped to a central location to be developed is generally disposed of appropriately; since large photo processors use so much silver, it's in their own best interest to recycle. Practices at smaller, one-hour developers can vary from stellar to slovenly, depending on the management. In general, look for a clean shop and knowledgeable employees: Simply following good housekeeping procedures and training workers adequately can help lessen waste.
On a personal level, consider opting for smaller pictures to save a bit of paper--and forgoing those cheap double prints. You can always reprint the best shots later. If the time comes to buy a new camera, think about going digital. Prices are continually dropping for filmless cameras, and the quality on high-end models is becoming nearly indistinguishable from that of conventional film. Most digital photo printers still use silver in their paper, but by avoiding film, you bypass the chemicals involved in processing. As for those overpackaged, one-time-use disposable cameras . . . well, don't even get me started.
Chris Bryant is a freelance writer based in Portland, Oregon.
