How to Deal With Electronic Waste

Environment

Aug 31, 2016

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E-waste is the toxic legacy of our digital age. Many factors have resulted in the fast-growing surplus of electronic waste around the globe like rapid update of technology, falling price and serious damage of products itself. Some 41.5 million tons of electronic waste is generated in 2011, and that number is expected to rise to 93.5 million by 2016. USA is the world lead in producing electronic waste, tossing away 30 million computers each year. Europe is also a main region, littering 100 million phones every year. Besides large amounts of e-waste produced domestically, China remains a major e-waste dumping ground for developed countries.

Then what’s the fate of these electronic waste? The Environmental Protection Agency estimate that only 15-20% of e-waste is recycled, the rest of these electronics go directly into landfills and incinerators. In the United States, an estimated 70% of heavy metals in landfill comes from discarded electronics. Another problem is the waste stream from the developed countries to the developing countries. The fact is that it really brings some good to these countries. Repaired electronics give people access to low-cost electronics and enjoy the benefits of technology. At the same time, repair creates jobs for those skilled people. Reuse in developing countries is usually more effective than in the developed countries. On the other hand, those developing countries has the danger of being toxic dump yards of e-waste. The workers don’t now how toxic their job is. With lack of right protection and using simple tools, their health condition is bad. It is heart-breaking fact that those people in developing countries need to sacrifice their health to earn living.

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