Let's consider few scenarios -
Gayatri: Hubby!!! I wish you present me a I-Phone 8 plus cellular phone this anniversary. My Samsung Galaxy S6 got old.
Ravi: What a picture quality!!!. I will definitely gift this 51" Flat-screen LED television to my mom on this Mother's Day. She has been using the 3 year old 21" LCD TV set.
Raju: Dad! please buy me a DSLR camera. You know that photography is my passion. This point and shoot camera do not have sufficient features.
Nik: Hey Kiran! I have bought Lenovo Yoga 3 Tab. It has awesome features and not like the old version.
So by now you might have understood what I am pointing at. Yes!!! The electronic gadgets and their purchase.
It's true that electronic gadgets have revolutionized and taken our life standards to next level. We have to agree that, these products of hybrid engineering or simply mechatronics have become a necessity and life is felt to be lifeless without these tools.
Economies which tapped immense market potential of these products decades ago by manufacturing and selling them, bulged by several times take them to top order and making them powerful and influential over period. Best examples are America, China, Japan, Germany etc.
Anyway, coming to our main theme, we have to note that a day will come when the same electronic gadgets we are using today including the laptop I am using to publish this post/article will become 100% depreciated and have to be disposed off. There arises the main issue. How to dispose it? Can I just throw it in the Garbage/ Trash Cans? If not Why? How will Disposal of such gadgets affect the environment? Is this a point to be worried upon? Are there alternate ways of disposal?
Answers for these questions constitute the theme of our present post.
Definition:
The stage when we would like to discard these electronic products after the end of the useful life (as per user's perspective), we assign them a term - E-Waste / Electronic Waste. This includes used electronics which are destined for salvage, resale, reuse or disposal and even secondary wastes. Primarily these result from discarded computers, office electronic equipment, entertainment device, mobile phones, television sets, media equipment and refrigerators etc. Others can be accounted as secondary source for e-waste. On one hand components like desktops, RAM etc have high recycling value and on other hand, components like display systems with CRTs are very hard to be recycled.
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| Image 1: Piled up discarded PCBs and other e-waste |
Causes for accumulation of electronic waste world wide:
Rapid evolution of technology, falling prices, easy accessibility, planned obsolescence have resulted in surplus accumulation of e-waste. Society today revolves around technology and by the constant yearn and need for newest and most high-tech products, we are contributing to mass amount of e-waste.
According to a report by UNEP titled, "Recycling - from E-waste to Resources," the amount of e-waste being produced including mobile phones and computers, could rise as much as 500% over next decade in some countries, such as India. The United States is world leader in e-waste generation, followed by China.
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| Image 2: Stocks of discarded cell phones |
In the madness after profits, some companies such as those of cell phones, make the products with revised features but do not last so that customers would buy a new one. They keep on updating versions so that customers get habituated to their particular brands and keep buying if a new one is released. Though the harmful effects of e-waste is very less in comparison to automobile and other machinery waste, still the risk with present rate of accumulation will become considerable in future.
E-Waste as a Trade:
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| Image 3: Obsolete Electronic products |
Many a times, taking advantage of poor environmental and labor standards, cheap labor in developing nations like China, India, Malaysia, Kenya, African countries etc., some companies of developed nations such as U.S. either legally (or sometimes illegally) ship abundant e-waste for processing in the name of seconds or reusable products resulting in creation of dumping grounds of e-waste for them.
On one hand this creates employment to some extent in developing nations by reusing and refurbishing industries. Also by reuse of products like computers people with low budget can also get access to facilities of Internet. But as every coin has two sides, due to lack of proper technology and regulations to deal with e-waste, expedient and prevalent but environmentally harmful practice are followed such as tossing equipment on to open fire, in order to melt plastics and to burn non-valuable metals. This releases carcinogens and neuro-toxins into the air.
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| Image 4: E-waste being assembled and burnt without proper safety procedure |
Environmental Impact:
Due to the wrong practice of e-waste treatment discussed above, liquid and atmospheric releases end-up in bodies of water, groundwater, soil and air. With time these toxic chemicals carcinogens find their way into living beings during consumption of food and water affected by these chemicals.
The environmental impact of the processing of few types of e-waste:
1. E-waste Component: Cathode Ray Tubes (from TVs, computer displays, video cam etc)
Potential Environmental pollutants: heavy metals like cadmium, barium, lead
2. E-waste Component: PCBs, Computer hardware
Potential Environmental pollutants: Release of Air dioxins, beryllium, cadmium, mercury, arsenic and discharge of glass dust
3. E-waste Component: Printers, keyboards etc.
Potential Environmental pollutants: brominated dioxins, hydrocarbons, selenium, mercury
4. E-waste Component: Mobile Phone
Potential Environmental pollutants: Lithium
There are few more types of components such as batteries with corresponding processes and environmental impacts.
Apart from environmental issues Information security of a country can also fall at risk. For example, discard and export of improperly erased hard-discs by any country can be reopened or processed to steal sensitive information from the drives such as credit card numbers/financial data/ records of online transactions/ electronic files regarding government contracts etc.
E-Waste Management:
Stringent e-waste management regulations needs to be designed and followed by countries not just on paper but in spirit in a holistic manner.
E-waste management is met by recycling/reuse/refurbishing.
Recycling: For recycling components like PCBs conventional methods such as shredding and separation is easy but has very low recycling efficiency and also can pose health problems to workers. Alternative methods such as cryogenic methods are under investigation. proper disposing off and reuse of electronics can prevent health problems and also reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Reuse and refurbishing offer a more environmental friendly and socially conscious alternative to recycling processes.
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| Image 5: Recyclable Batteries |
In developed countries, electronic waste processing usually first involves dismantling the equipment into its components (metal frames, power supplies, circuit boards etc.) either manually or by automated shredding equipment (e.g: NADIN electronic waste processing plant in Bulgaria, Eastern Europe). In an alternative bulk systems, e-waste material is conveyed for shredding into an unsophisticated mechanical separator, with screening and granulating machines. The output is sold to smelters or plastic recyclers. Such recycling machinery is enclosed, some emissions of which are caught by scrubbers and screens. Magnets, Eddy currents, Trommel/rotating screens are employed to separate glass, plastic and ferrous & non-ferrous metals, which are further separated in smelter. In such equipment, hazardous smoke and gases are captured, contained and treated to mitigate environmental threat.
Hence Recycling by proper procedure can
1. reduce the amount of greenhouse gas emissions caused by the manufacturing of new products
2. Natural resources are conserved as virgin mining is avoided by certain extent.
3. Health problems to workers is avoided
Manufacturing durable goods with reliable components can indirectly account for e-waste management and hence environmental preservation by converting the continuous consumption or demand to intermittent one in the market for such products.
All the above stated information is with e-waste management. Discreetly identifying necessary and unnecessary need of electronic goods and regulate their acquisition consciously, helps to indirectly reduce the pool of e-waste created and hence its afterward effects. For example, avoid buying new cellphone for prestige if present phone is working well and caters your need.
Let's close this topic with statement - "Lets wake up before earth rings the final bell" and "Eco-friendly and Sustainable practices are key for prolonging age of mankind in the universe."
References:
Image 3: By AvWijk - Own work, Public Domain,
Image 4: By Marlenenapoli - Own work, CC0,
Very good. I like this article.
ReplyDeleteThank-You
DeleteExcellent work.It is very useful to motivate ourselves.
ReplyDeleteThanq
DeleteExcellent work.It is very useful to motivate ourselves and save future generations.
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