E - waste is a type of waste that has becoming a major concern in the recent years. While the world moved forward with digitalization, electric waste which is getting generated from the fast paced digitalization is also increasing in a alarming rate.
What is treated as Electronic Waste ?
According to UN definition - E-waste is anything that has a plug, electric wire, or battery that has reached the end of its usable life. This includes electronic gadgets such as cellphones, laptops, and TVs, as well as the components that make up these electronic devices that have reached the end of their useful lives.
Why should we care about this?
Compounds such as mercury (Hg), lead (Pb), and beryllium (Be), to name just a few, may be discovered in electronic trash. Each of these elements is harmful to both humans and the environment. When these chemicals are improperly handled throughout the disposal process, they seep into our ground, our water, and our air.
On the other hand, these rare elements are consumed in every electronic products and being consumed at an alarming rate. Some of these minerals which is being wasted is becoming more and more costly and rare due to high consumption. Recycling of the E-waste and recovery of the precious materials will become a need in near future.
The United Nations conducted a study in 2020 to determine the amount of e-waste produced throughout the world, and they estimated that it was around 50 million tonnes.
50 million tonnes of e - waste can be split into 6 small subsections.
Temperature equipment - Heaters, Coolers, Fridges, Fans, Air conditioner- 17%
Large equipment - Ovens, Microwave, Mixer, Grinder, washing machine, dryer- 20%
Screens and monitors - Laptops, Pc, TV - 15%
Small equipment - Earbuds, Earphones, Headphones, Mouse, chargers, Usb drives - 38%
Lamps/Lights - 1%
Small IT/ Telecommunications equipment - Mobile phones, Radios, Ipads - 9%
Despite the very detrimental impacts of the toxic materials used in the production of this electronic equipment, only 20% of the 50 million tonnes of e-waste are registered, collected, and recycled despite the fact that this waste is harmful and toxic to us humans and to the environment.
According to statistics 50 million tonnes of electronic waste is roughly equal to 125, 000 jumbo jets or around 45000 eiffel towers worth of electronic equipment that has been thrown out and is polluting the world.
What makes electronic devices so harmful to the environment when thrown out?
Numerous electrical gadgets that are in widespread use today each include numerous elements that are cataloged in the periodic table of elements and may be located there.
As a result of the existence of these elements, it is detrimental to the ecosystem since a good number of these elements may be poisonous, and they have the potential to contaminate as well as kill both marine and terrestrial life.
For example, the average smartphone that a person uses everyday for work or personal reasons has multiple rare and/or toxic elements that can harm people and the environment.
Smartphones have elements such as Silicon, Potassium, Aluminium, Gold, Silver, Mercury, Lanthanum, Praseodymium, Europium, Gadolinium, Terbium, Dysprosium, Nickel, Terbium, Neodymium, Lithium, Cobalt, Magnesium, Galium and Tantalum.
There is no way to recover all of this information from these phones after they have been thrown away without causing some kind of harm to the components in some way, shape, or form. This is due to the fact that more than half of these components are materials that are exceedingly difficult to get, and some of them are harmful to the environment. When we toss away our phones without any thought, not only are we contributing to the destruction of the environment, but we are also contributing to the waste of elements that are contained inside the phones, many of which are quite rare.
In our own way by throwing away electronic items such as phones we are contributing to mass loss of resources every year.
What can we do to reduce this?
Both ancient and contemporary human civilizations have profited from technical advances, inventions, and engineering applications that are employed inside communities to execute certain jobs. However, these advancements in technology have also posed challenges to human society. The culture, ideals, and aspirations of human societies have shaped how those civilizations have created technology, how they have benefited from technology, and how technology has impeded their progress in various ways. However, technological innovations have become necessary for societies to thrive and evolve.
However, as our technology has advanced, we have begun to discard previous versions of our technology. When we did this, the older forms of our technology started to damage and destroy our beautiful world.
Solutions for what you can do in real life :
Be a smart user. Make sure your item is not one that can quickly break or become damaged once you buy it.
Reuse as often as possible. Try to use or encourage the use of second hand products.
Educate yourself on what gets put into your electronics. Make sure there is nothing that could be toxic and if there is make sure it is minimal.
Look for an environmentally friendly label. Also look for a label that says if it is a recyclable product.
Consider limiting the number of electronics you own. Try not to buy an extra phone. You only need one.
Maintain what you have. Make sure the phones or other electronics that you have are in good condition.
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