Effect of E-Waste on Environment - Report Example

Effect of E-waste on Environment

The problem of e-waste has been on the rise in the contemporary world. This can mainly be associated with development of technology leading to massive production of electronic appliances. The world has not taken key attention on the possibility of using obsolete electronic devices in a sustainable way. Thus strategies to enhance recycling or reusing have not been fronted by policy makers, especially in the developing world. The world market for the electrical and electronic equipment has been on the rise. This has been clouded by the very nature of gadgets short-term use leading to increased obsoleteness, thus, polluting the environment. E-waste problem has received great attention from the policy makers as future projections indicate that electronic products will be in high demand causing a waste disposal issue strategy to be adopted by the high-risk areas in the world.

Internationally the electrical waste is expanding in an unimagined rate (InVeit et al, 2015). These wastes are hazardous and expensive to treat in an environmentally sound manner. Moreover, in the world today, creating legislation to enforce rules on electrical appliances disposal will be an uphill task. E-wastes in the contemporary world are disposed in an irresponsible and casual manner that endangers the environment and human life. Research establishes that e-waste from the developing world is taken illegally to developing world for recycling, a phenomenon, that has endangered industrial workers in this part of the world. Globalization of these waste products poses a great threat to the ecosystem and to health of human beings.

Globally e-waste has brought a lot of challenges to the industrial sector as they have led to increased cost of safe disposal of obsolete technological gadgets. The demand for technology all over the world has in turn contributed to globalization of the problem. Additionally e-waste has proven to be toxic in design leading to pollution of the environment by endangering the bio-diversity. The recycling industry has also faced difficulties in dealing with e-waste material as they are complex products. They contain both toxic and non-toxic materials that make it hard to separate them in the recycling effort. Thus, safe disposal of the electrical waste requires sophisticated technologies that are expensive to apply.

Health issues have also been raised by workers dealing with these materials .Labor organizations are campaigning for rights and standards in protection of laborers and the environment. There is a consensus between industrialists that responsible management of e-waste has no financial value, factor that has contributed to slow adoption of mitigation measures. Regulation of e-waste has generally been poor all over the world with many countries unaware of the menace they will be facing in the future.

Qatar as a country in the gulf region has huge reserves of the electronic waste that spells doom to their environment protection strategies. Their environmental agency has reported a fast increasing stock of the waste that has coerced the government to create legislation on e-waste. The country lacks the infrastructure and a legal framework to address the challenges that are associated with these new age environment pollutants. With a high number of households addicted to electronic devices such as fridges ,computers, cookers, microwaves and mobile phones, Qatar finds itself among the world`s excessive e-waste generating countries.

United Nations University report on Qatar`s average e-waste generation was coined to be 16.3 kilograms against a global average of about 5.9 kilograms in 2014.Qatar`s readiness to deal with the e-waste menace is questionable as the stock piles of these toxic products are evident all over the country. This country is facing the danger of irreparable environmental damage that will cause a health crisis in the future. Compared to the developed world, Qatar’s legislation on e-waste has been delayed leading to unsustainable strategies to address the problem (Balde et al, 2015). This gulf country that is infamous for its high affinity for technological gadgets need to initiate legislations that will assist in creating robust mitigation strategies in addressing environmental problems posed by e-waste. This paper will explore the deeper understanding of e-waste in the contemporary world, while at the same time addressing the challenges with mitigation consistent with an array of environment friendly techniques.

Major challenges in the world have emerged as a result of monumental changes in our way of life. Globalization and extensive industrialization as a result of increased innovation has born new problems that will confront humanity in the days to come. The IT industry which was originally viewed as a clean sector compared to the chemical industries has caused humongous environmental pollution in modern world (Kinnaman et al, 2014). The original source of massive e-waste can be traced in the Informational Technology gadgets that have a very short life span making their obsolescence very common. These gadgets have the capacity to pollute the environment from their usage as well as during their disposal posing a new challenge to the human ecosystem. It is estimated that a total of 2% of carbon footprint can be traced to the electronic wastes in the world.

E-waste

This is an informal term that is used to refer to electronic products that are nearing the end of their use or value. These include the electronic gadgets for example photocopiers, computers, televisions and other common electronic appliances-waste emanate from anything electronic that becomes obsolete after advancement in technology (Goodship, 2012). The lifespan of electronic devices has reduced leading to an increased volume of e-waste to the environment.

Excessive production of electronics has adverse effects on the environment. This applies to the e-waste also, as the increase in products as a result of the upsurge of population has led to adverse effects on environment. The following are some of the causes of e-waste in the world;

Development

Estimation by researchers places the number of personal computers to be about a billion in the world today (Kuehr et al, 2003).The life span of these computers ranges from 2 years to about 3 years in the developed world. In the United States of America alone 300 million computers are obsolete. The developing world has also joined the globalization wave of technology by adopting the IT innovation into their systems. The rate of success in the sale of internet and computers is coined at 400% in the developing countries. The disposal of technology equipment at the end of their use poses a major challenge in the world today.

Technology

The growth of technology at an alarming rate has majorly contributed to the huge stocks of electronic waste in the world. New appliances and products are hitting the world in day in day out, with a large number of people embracing the new innovations. Bearing in mind that these technologies are introduced by the multinational corporations, their marketing and sale in controlled by forces that the home government cannot influence. The outcome of their businesses is the flooding the electrical devices in the world, without a system to ensure their recycling, reuse and safe disposal.

Financial power

The growth of middle class cluster of people in the developing world has also influenced the buying power in those areas. Interestingly, the rise of middle income economies in the traditionally poor continents has coincided with the growth of sales in technology gadgets in these parts of the world. People in the contemporary world discard their older materials in the rush for the newer and trendy products a phenomenon that has raised the level of solid waste electrical materials in the world.

Population

Demographics of the world today have also been a factor that has influenced the worrying trends of the e-waste in the developing world. The growing population in Africa, with an increasing literacy level can be attributed to the high demand of technology devices in the continent. Large populations are good for business. Flourishing IT business ventures are evidence to go by, with e-waste becoming another problem in the development of the continent.

Effects of the E-waste on Environment and Human health

Electronic wastes have a number of components that pose a great danger to the human being if they are not handled properly (Miller et al 2009). The impacts and dangers on the environment are mainly as a result of unsafe disposal and recycling. The hazards are mainly to the populations that are in [proximity to the areas that the wastes are disposed, burnt or recycled. In the developing world the problem has been gravitated by the illegal disposal of the waste by the developed world. According to the UN, electronic wastes are set to exceed 40 million tons in a year. These materials produce highly toxic chemicals that have damaging implications on human health and the environment. Pollution of the land-fills is much evident in countries like India. The metal chemicals leaching out form the land-fills can get into the water table, thereby, contaminating the water resources and in the end the chain extends to the agriculture sector affecting people`s health.

A report by BBC confirms most people fears as it has established that about 23% of deaths in developing countries in Africa, Europe and Asia are linked to pollution and other environmental problems. The report also, in a rather futuristic stance, claimed that about 200 million people are in danger of exposure to toxic wastes. Primitive recycling methods employed in the developing world can be attributed to the high level of lead-poisoning in the continent. These recycling activities are endangering the lives of industry workers, unaware of the danger they are exposed to. Electronic waste health risks may be associated with the following chemical materials; Chromium, cadmium, lead, toxic fumes and other chemicals that may accumulate in food, water and soil.

Recycling of e-waste has also led to increased poisonous by-products that have gravy health impacts. Additionally, the activities involved in dismantling the electronic waste can lead to injury to the involved workers. Children are a special case in the fight against e-waste. The risk of chemical absorption by children when growing near the recycling industries is a matter that requires serious attention. Some of the functional systems of human beings develop during the young age, and exposure to the poisonous chemicals may lead to stunted development which is irreversible (Gleich et al, 2006).

These wastes have genotoxic effects on the human body, which may have impacts on a whole community and furthermore, passed on to other generations (Hester, 2001). Research done on the adverse impacts of e-waste on the human health has associated respiratory, skin and stomach problems to chemicals originating from these waste materials. Furthermore, problems such as brain underdevelopment in children, kidney malfunction and weakened immune system are witnessed in electronic waste prone areas.

Transportation of these waste materials by sea has also had environmental problems arising mainly due to illegal disposals leading to destruction of the sea ecosystem. Air pollution has also been associated with burning of obsolete electronic in incinerators causing secondary exposure to poisonous gases. Some of the chemicals released by the by-products during recycling are also carcinogenic raising risk of cancer diseases in the areas the plants are established. The chemicals under watch in this case have slow metabolism level in animals and can accumulate in the animal`s tissues and passed to human through products such as milk and eggs-waste effect on the environment can have damaging repercussions that can create future climatic and health havoc (Ahmad et al, 2005). The world must come together and address this developmental emergency that needs concerted efforts by all and sundry.

European and American industries had a tradition of shipping their industrial refuse to Asian countries such as China and India. This solved the issue of e-waste temporarily as new trends in pollution indicate a shocking revelation. World environmentalists observe that these countries have adopted recycling measures that are inhumane and destructive. Having prior knowledge that the metals produced by e-waste are not bio-degradable countries should institute measures to control the haphazard disposal of e-waste.

Activities such as the burning of the plastic materials, damping batteries that have acids into the water reservoirs, and the general disposal of the electronic gadgets into the environment carelessly destroy the environment (Chandrappa et al, 2012). Protection of the environment is paramount to the survival of human beings in the days to come. Ensuring that legislations on e-waste are created and international conventions on the new challenge will be a futuristic step with regard to disposal strategies.

One of the best ways to ensure sustainable management of the e-waste by enforcing laws that will ensure that the manufacturers adopt green elements in their production (Hebel et al, 2014). Industrialists should be encouraged to adopt materials that are recyclable in production. Some of the products that form the e-waste cannot be recycled completely, for example the PVC layers can live on the environment for ages without a means to recycle it. Manufacturers should adopt technologies that ensure continuous usage of the e-waste in their industries so as to avoid instances that harm the environment and its inhabitants (Webber, et al 2009).

Another strategy that can prove important if adopted is the refurbishment of the electronics, to sell them at a cheaper price. In the process, the society as well as the manufacturers stands to benefit. People should also consider being charitable by donating electronic equipment, that are not in use to the needy people in the society as w way of reducing e-waste.

The recycle process

Recycling process may involve such strategies as dismantling and segregation of ferrous and non-ferrous metals, the plastics by application of the shredder process. This will lead to the separation of the valuable materials form other non-valuable materials (Hester et al 2009). From this process the dangerous toxic materials will be identified from safe disposal. Most electronic equipment have precious metals as one of their component and in the recycling process their recovery is very important. The materials that are proven to be toxic should be incinerated or disposed in a land fill. However, the process of incineration is expensive in the developing countries faced with financial hurdles. The land fill e-waste management technique has its own challenge associated with the leaching behavior of the heavy metals. It is not an environmentally sound waste management system for substances that are not biodegradable (Worrell et al, 2014).

Incineration

Important to note is the advantage of incineration over landfills in the management of e-wastes. Incineration leads to usage of energy that is derived from the combustible materials while the volume of the e-waste is heavily reduced. The dangerous inorganic compounds found in e-waste materials in their complex forms are made less hazardous (Johri et al, 2008). A disadvantage of this mitigation measure for e-waste is the fact that during the burning some toxic gases are emitted in to the atmosphere for example mercury and cadmium.

Life Cycle Assessment

This is a strategy threat involves employing new techniques of device production in the industries. The design of environmental friendly electronic products will reduce the amount of electronic wastes. Eco-design technological equipment have proven to be user friendly and helpful in e-waste management .The categorization of environmental impacts according to the category of the appliances will aid in designing future technology gadgets to be conscious of changing climate, level of pollution and other factors.

Analysis of the material flow

Basel Convention led to the ban of the extensive transfer of waste products from the west to China, India and South Africa. Analysis of flow of the e-waste materials from recycling, disposal and the stock of the waste products is crucial to ensure sustainable management. Tracing the pathways and the final destination of e-waste helps to seal the loopholes that may be contributing to the rising levels of pollution associated with electronic products. This process is used as a tool to support environment and waste management. The process also incorporates assessment of e-waste effects on economic, social values and the environment.

Extended Producer Responsibility

This is a general policy in the industries sector that supports the decision to place the responsibility on manufacturers to take back the product after use. This policy is based on the principle of the polluter pays.

Electrical waste is a problem in the local and international economies. Their origins can be traced in the developed world but the burden has also been transferred to developing world, mainly due to the infiltration of new technologies.

Qatar case study

Qatar a country in the gulf region is a party to the Basel convention, an international agreement that is meant to control trans-border movement of hazardous wastes in a bid to dispose the safely in other parts of the world. Qatar like many other gulf countries does not have a regime of legislation to support it in the fight against irresponsible disposal of the electronic wastes in its borders. Ratification of the Basel convention to disallow exports of e-waste in the developing world has been effective in protecting the rising levels of pollution that is associated with these types of wastes.

However, there is evidence of illegal business of e-waste in Qatar by unscrupulous business people but these products have lost value leading to loss of their market. Although, there are no legally binding rules in Qatar to reinforce e-waste management strategies, organizations have taken it upon themselves voluntarily to initiate mitigation measures. Industrial data in Qatar indicate that mobile corporations are adopting strategies of buying back their obsolete products, refurbishing them and selling them again.

Qatar as a country has very few companies that manage electrical waste materials. The companies available in this country are mainly in transportation and collection of e-waste business. The lack of advanced technology and funding, coupled with proper legislation has made it difficult to construct an e-waste plant in the nation. The uncontrolled management of the damping of e-waste in Qatar has had major negative impacts on the local communities.

The e-waste recycling mitigation strategy has been adopted massively in Qatar. Cognizant of the rising demand of the electronic device in their market, recycling has become a likeable investment to salvage the valuable metals existent in e-wastes. Employing better recycling methods will lead to better alleviation of important by-products after the end-of-life of devices. Qatar environment officials argue that recycling of e-waste produces less carbon dioxide to the atmosphere compared to extraction of metals from the ores. The rising levels of e-waste in gulf countries are worrying as solutions to the continued endangering of environment seem to be taken casually. Unsustainable waste management systems such as creating of landfills are becoming rampant, with the attendant risks increasing day in day out.

Bearing in mind that there are no appropriate technologies to deal with e-menace in the world, better and fair disposal strategies need to be enhanced all over the world. The case in point of western world countries making the developing countries to be the graveyards for disposal of their industrial waste should cease and appropriate legislation created to seal that loophole This should be enforced to ensure environmental justice as people from other parts of the world destroying your ecosystem for monetary value is a keen to committing environmental crimes.

In conclusion therefore e-waste is a new phenomenon in the twenty first century and thus, requires more research to identify the best scientific, economic and social strategies to curb its possible effects on the human life and the environment.

Recommendation

International governmental organizations such as the UN should create international conventions to bind parties on concerted efforts to reduce pollution caused by the electronic waste in the world today. This will help in enforcing sanctions and giving financial aid to the countries facing the menace.