E-Waste

Written by me for ComputerActive magazine India

Planning to buy a newer mobile? Think again!

E-waste, an orphaned product of Technology, has piled up to threatening levels and the impending danger is easily palpable. A comprehensive effort on an united front is deemed essential to tackle this seemingly daunting task.

Technology has catered us with absolute miracles. Advances in technology have been churning out products and gadgets at a rate faster than we blink. Combine that with a booming global economy and we realize that we are consuming technology faster than we can digest. The result is a dangerous explosion in electronic scrap containing toxic chemicals and heavy metals that cannot be disposed of or recycled safely. These electronic scraps are popularly termed as E-waste.

Market is flooded with new products; laptops, mobiles, desktops, refrigerators, fax, printers, televisions and such. At the end of their useful life when they become redundant we just replace it with a newer and better one. But do we ever think where does these scraps go? Where are they dumped? Disposed or recycled? The answer is: “They pile up”.

E-waste junk is exponentially increasing with 20-50 million tonnes generated every year globally. Where thousands more are exported, often illegally, from the Europe, US, Japan and other industrialized countries to the subcontinent, Asia itself discards an estimated 12 million tonnes each year. Electronic waste now makes up a whopping five percent of all solid waste worldwide. Developing countries are expected to triple their e-waste production over the next five years.

● The average lifespan of computers in developed countries has dropped from six years in 1997 to just two years now. ● Mobile phones have a life span of less than two years. ● Statistics project that by 2010, there will be 716 million new computers in use. ● There will be 178 million new computer users in China, 80 million new users in India.

Personal computers (PCs) contain certain components, which are highly toxic, such as halogens, toxic gases, biologically active materials, acids, plastics and plastic additives. The hazardous content of these materials pose a threat to environment and health. Improper disposal ensures that they end up in landfills or incinerators or, more recently, are exported to Asia.

Landfilling can cause toxic chemicals in electronics products to leach into the land over time or are released into the atmosphere, impacting nearby communities and the environment. Incineration releases heavy metals and toxic fumes into the air. Mercury released into the atmosphere can bio-accumulate in the food chain. Acids and sludge obtained from melting computer chips, if disposed on the ground causes acidification of soil.Another leeway is exports. E-waste is routinely exported by developed countries to developing ones, often in violation of the international law. Growing E-waste trade problem in India. 25,000 workers are employed at scrap yards in Delhi alone, where 10-20000 tonnes of E-waste is handled each year, 25 percent of this being computers. Other E-waste scrap yards have been found in Meerut, Ferozabad, Chennai, Bangalore and Mumbai. There, workers at scrap yards, some of whom are children, are exposed to a cocktail of toxic chemicals and poisons.

Reuse and recycling are better alternatives to the above mentioned. However, these modalities are not being widely implemented for their own shortcomings and lack of recycling plants. The lifespan of reused products is very short and they are usually dumped further accentuating the problem. Although recycling can be a good way to reuse the raw materials in a product, the hazardous chemicals in E-waste mean that electronics can harm workers in the recycling yards, as well as their neighboring communities and environment.

Then what is the solution? Solving this perplexing problem is a dilemma.

Proper control over the materials used in the manufacturing process is an important way to reduce waste generation. All production materials must be evaluated to examine if they contain hazardous constituents and whether alternative non-hazardous materials are available. Changes can be made in the production process, which will reduce waste generation. Also improvements in the operation and maintenance of process equipment can result in significant waste reduction.

Recycling could eliminate waste disposal costs, reduce raw material costs and provide income from a salable waste. However recycling of hazardous products has little environmental benefit if it simply moves the hazards into secondary products that eventually have to be disposed of. Unless the goal is to redesign the product to use non-hazardous materials, such recycling is a false solution.

Government will set up regulatory broads and industries will form a convention to implement stringent protocols. How far these will be regulated and implemented depends on the bureaucratic wrangles. Even if it is realized, the magnitude of this problem cant just be attenuated unless the participation is on an individual level. What can you do and what must be done is an important question to address.

Waste prevention is perhaps more preferred to any other waste management option including recycling. Donating electronics for reuse extends the lives of valuable products and keeps them out of the waste management system for a longer time. But care should be taken while donating such items i.e. the items should be in working condition.

Reuse, in addition to being an environmentally preferable alternative, also benefits society. By donating used electronics, schools, non-profit organizations, and lower-income families can afford to use equipment that they otherwise could not afford.

E-wastes should never be disposed with garbage and other household wastes. This should be segregated at the site and sold or donated to various organizations.

You can follow these simple protocols to do your bit:

● Support companies that make clean products.

● Think twice before buying whether you really need a new device.

● Support greener manufacturers and buy them

● Purchase energy efficient and certified products

● Return your equipment to the manufacturer when you have finished with it.

● Customers should opt for upgrading their computers or other electronic items to the latest versions rather than buying new equipments.

Every coin has two sides. Technological advances, while being the biggest boon of the millennium has also been a threat and has raised environmental concerns in the form of piling E-wastes. However, It is not technology that can be held responsible, but haphazard growth, un-mindful implementation and disposal by us has led to this stage where technology is spitting venom right on our faces in the form of potentially harmful wastes. We as responsible habitants of this green planet are ought to display some responsible behaviour and take measured and appropriate actions to minimize, if not eliminate, the same.

References:

● Center for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore.

● Greenpeace International reports