Analysis and Importance of E-Waste - Essay Example

"E-waste" is a popular, informal for electronic products nearing the end of their "useful life."E-wastes are considered dangerous, as certain components of some electronic products contain materials that are hazardous, depending on their condition and density. The hazardous content of these materials pose a threat to human health and environment. Discarded computers, televisions, VCRs, stereos, copiers, fax machines, electric lamps, cell phones, audio equipment and batteries if improperly disposed can leach lead and other substances into soil and groundwater. Many of these products can be reused, refurbished, or recycled in an environmentally sound manner so that they are less harmful to the ecosystem. These days computer has become most common and widely used gadget in all kinds of activities ranging from schools, residences, offices to manufacturing industries. E-toxic components in computers could be summarized as circuit boards containing heavy metals like lead & cadmium; batteries containing cadmium; cathode ray tubes with lead oxide & barium; brominated flame retardants used on printed circuit boards, cables and plastic casing; poly vinyl chloride (PVC) coated copper cables and plastic computer casings that release highly toxic dioxins & furans when burnt to recover valuable metals; mercury switches; mercury in flat screens; poly chlorinated biphenyl's (PCB's) present in older capacitors; transformers; etc. Basel Action Network (BAN) estimates that the 500 million computers in the world contain 2.87 billion kgs of plastics, 716.7 million kgs of lead and 286,700 kgs of mercury. The average 14-inch monitor uses a tube that contains an estimated 2.5 to 4 kgs of lead. The lead can seep into the ground water from landfills thereby contaminating it. If the tube is crushed and burned, it emits toxic fumes into the air. With the increase in use of computers and other electronic products, the problem of how to dispose the used computers and other electronic goods has become a serious one. The ubiquitous computers and monitors along with printers, fax machines and the cartridges that are used in these machines are all potential e-waste components, which if not disposed properly pose several dangers to the environment. Uncontrolled burning, disposal of e-waste without regard to proper environmental procedures all play a role in making the dumping of e-waste and its disposal a priority issue. It is estimated that 75% of electronic items are stored due to uncertainty of how to manage it. These electronic junks lie unattended in houses, offices, warehouses etc. and normally mixed with household wastes, which are finally disposed off at landfills. This necessitates implementable management measures. In industries management of e-waste should begin at the point of generation. This can be done by waste minimization techniques and by sustainable product design. Waste minimization in industries involves adopting: inventory management, production-process modification, volume reduction, recovery and reuse. The solutions suggested for solving the issue of e-waste range from reducing the toxic substances in the components prior to manufacture, recycling of the used electronic products, dumping of the e-waste in selected and notified areas, burning the e-waste products in designated incinerators that comply with environmental standards. Of course, the most common solution for e-waste management in the developed world is to ship the used computers and other electronic goods to developing countries like China and India where they are either used again or sold as scrap or in most cases, incinerated and the residual metal extracted from them. We will take a look at each of these solutions and the environmental policies in the developed world that contribute to as well as solve the problem of e-waste. The most common solution to tackle the issue of e-waste is to recycle it. However, not all products can be recycled owing to different market conditions that exist for these products. Though recycling has been touted as the best possible solution and there are specific environmental policies in place to encourage this, the efforts fall short because of the lifestyles in the developed world that place a premium on new products and the consumerist attitude that encourages people to throw and buy new products without giving a thought for the used products and their disposal. The reason why many activists are up in arms over the e-waste management is that many of these products find their way to the "third world" countries where the environmental norms are not as strict as those in the developed world and hence it is easy to dispose of these products without attracting the attention of the governments in these countries. Added to this is the pervasive corruption and flouting of already weak norms and the result is a problem of huge proportions. It is my contention that this practice should not be encouraged even though it might make sense from the market incentives based point of view. The point here is that like the "Carbon credits" that are traded between the developed and the developing world, markets for e-waste do exist in the developing countries but unlike the market mechanism for carbon emissions which is regulated according to international norms, the market for disposal of e-waste is often characterized by the presence of unscrupulous elements who flout the environmental norms. E-waste is routinely exported by developed countries to developing ones, often in violation of the international law. Inspections of 18 European seaports in 2005 found as much as 47 percent of waste destined for export, including e-waste, was illegal. In the UK alone, at least 23,000 metric tonnes of undeclared or 'grey' market electronic waste was illegally shipped in 2003 to the Far East, India, Africa and China. In the US, it is estimated that 50-80 percent of the waste collected for recycling is being exported in this way. This practice is legal because the US has not ratified the Basel Convention. In the 1990s, governments in the EU, Japan and some US states set up e-waste 'recycling' systems. But many countries did not have the capacity to deal with the sheer quantity of e-waste they generated or with its hazardous nature. Therefore, they began exporting the problem to developing countries where laws to protect workers and the environment are inadequate or not enforced. It is also cheaper to 'recycle' waste in developing countries; the cost of glass-to-glass recycling of computer monitors in the US is ten times more than in China. Demand in Asia for electronic waste began to grow when scrap yards found they could extract valuable substances such as copper, iron, silicon, nickel and gold, during the recycling process. A mobile phone, for example, is 19 percent copper and eight percent iron. Hence, one alternative for e-waste management would be to reduce the amount of toxic substances at the time of manufacture itself or remove the hazardous components prior to disposal. However, in practice, this does not happen as the producers of electronic products do not have the incentives necessary are not there to remove the toxic substances prior to export as the disposal costs are high because of tighter regulation in the developed world. This creates a condition wherein the exports of e-waste are cheaper to developing countries instead of disposing them in the developed world. The solution of making the products with lesser amount of toxic substances can be taken up with advances in technology that ensure that these products are manufactured in an efficient manner. As mentioned earlier, the troika of market incentives, lifestyle changes and technological advances would go a long way in resolving the problem of e-waste. However, these are easier said than done because of the inherent economics of the trade in e-waste that focuses on the lowest common denominator as far as costs are concerned. Hence, what is needed is a comprehensive approach by the policymakers that takes a holistic perspective on the whole issue of e-waste and how policies designed to encourage technological innovation and subsidies for producers must be promoted. The other approach would be to promote recycling in the developed world that makes use of advanced technologies and ensures that proper disposal of e-waste is done by educating the users about the same. Some of the organizations that are involved in promoting environmentally friendly e-waste disposal include are the Electronic Take Back coalition, Silicon Valley Toxics coalition, and Basel Action Network and Texas campaign for environment. All these organizations take active efforts in educating the consumers as well as policy advocacy to spur the government and industry into adopting safe and "green" e-waste management efforts. It should be the case that policymakers must encourage the efforts of these organizations and fund them appropriately. As has been mentioned earlier, there are some practical difficulties that these efforts run into which include the pervasive obsession with reducing costs even at the expense of safe practices etc. E-Parisaraa, an eco-friendly recycling unit on the outskirts of Bangalore which is located in Dobaspet industrial area, about 45 Km north of Bangalore, makes full use of E-Waste. The plant which is India's first scientific e-waste recycling unit will reduce pollution, landfill waste and recover valuable metals, plastics & glass from waste in an eco-friendly manner. E-Parisaraa has developed a circuit to extend the life of tube lights. The circuit helps to extend the life of fluorescent tubes by more than 2000 hours. If the circuits are used, tube lights can work on lower voltages. The initiative is to aim at reducing the accumulation of used and discarded electronic and electrical equipments. The points that have been mentioned in this paper highlight the dangers of not disposing off e-waste in an effective manner. The point that I am trying to make is that unless governments across the developed world make conscious efforts to address the problem in their backyards, the issue of exporting the consequences to the developing world would continue and thereby putting many people at risk in these countries. This is definitely not the ideal solution as the developed countries bear responsibility for the results of their consumerist lifestyles. Hence, if one were to take a conscientious approach, the developed countries must take steps to address the issue of e-waste by promoting safe practices like reducing toxic substances before disposal, clean recycling and incentives for technology that increases the efficiency of the products without adding hazardous material to the products etc. In conclusion, it might be necessary to have an international convention on e-waste management that takes these factors into account. References Activists Push for Safer E-Recycling. (2002, Apr 06). Retrieved Nov 16, 2010, from NPR: http://www.npr.org/programs/watc/features/2002/apr/computers/index.html Carroll, C. (2008, Jan 19). High-Tech Trash. Retrieved Nov 16, 2010, from National Geographic: http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2008/01/high-tech-trash/carroll-text Coalition, B. A. (2002, Feb 25). Exporting Harm: The High-Tech Trashing of Asia. Retrieved Nov 16, 2010, from BAN.Org: http://www.ban.org/E-waste/technotrashfinalcomp.pdf Morgan, R. (2006, Aug 21). Tips and Tricks for Recycling Old Computers. Retrieved Nov 16, 2010, from Smart Biz: http://www.smartbiz.com/article/articleprint/1525/-1/58 Ramachandra T.V., Saira Varghese K, 2004. Environmentally Sound Options for E-Wastes Management. Available at http://wgbis.ces.iisc.ernet.in/energy/paper/ewaste/ewaste.html E-waste management. Available at http://www.iimm.org/knowledge_bank/9_e-weste-management.htm Where does e-waste end up Available at http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/campaigns/toxics/electronics/the-e-waste-problem/where-does-e-waste-end-up/ Read More