E Waste Managment. The rapid transformation of technological innovations which makes our lives easy on one hand has also has resulted in the increase of e-wastes in the world at the same time..

by donaldvxs (student)

University Degree Business and Administrative studies

E-Waste

INTRODUCTION–

Electronic-waste (e-waste) has emerged as a critical global environmental health issue in both developed and developing nations. "Electronic waste" can be defined as discarded computers, office electronic equipment, entertainment device, , and just to name a few. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) refers to e-waste as "electronic products that are discarded by consumers." Presently, electronic waste is regarded as the biggest global problem because of its harmful effects to our environment. The rapid transformation of technological innovations which makes our lives easy on one hand has also has resulted in the increase of e-wastes in the world at the same time..

Nowadays people use lots of electronic devices in their daily lives. They need more comfortable and more developed electronic device to accomplish their businesses. According to customer’s need, the electronic companies keep innovating and developing their goods. So people often change their electronic device more often than the really needed. This produces lots of electronic waste of all kinds all over the world.

The disposal of the electronic is a big trade to make a huge profit in some countries. Some people and countries think the disposal of the electronic waste as the means of making lots of money. I strongly disagree with this. If we keep growing our E-Waste, we cannot refresh our world environment and will continue to face a lot of serious problem such as severe diseases and destruction to the environment. We need to have effective solution in place to eliminate the harsh consequence of the E-waste coming from governments, industry, and individuals. The general government in each country has to make specific solutions to solve the disposal of electronic waste. Faster technological innovation and consequently a high obsolete rate posses a direct challenge for its proper disposal or recycling. This problem has taken a global dimension. The companies should be responsible for handling their E-waste from their production processes. It should be companies duty is to keep the environment safe along with their objective of making profits. They should be socially responsible to the community and to the people for whom they operate. Companies should be responsibility on their actions. However, some companies are just interested in earning their assets and saving their budgets. If the companies do not mind to bury the disposal of E-waste on the unaccepted areas, our environment will fall into disrepair.

The United Nations Environmental Program released a report in February 2010 urging developing countries to act quickly to avoid huge e-waste. The UNEP report also notes that global e-waste generation is growing by 40 million tones a year. The global e-waste market is forecasted to reach 53 million tones by now (2012) from 42 million tones in 2008.

Sources

Electronic waste especially computer waste is growing exponentially in volume because of increasing demand of information technology and its extensive usage in all walks of life around the globe. Various government departments, public as well as private sectors are continuously feeding old electronic appliances such as computers, telephones, etc, into the waste stream. Electronic waste comes from Individual household, small large business, Institutions, government, PC manufacturers and retailers, waste from imports and also from secondary markets where used electronics are bought and sold..

E-waste from Individual Households is not major contributors to E-waste, but never the less the number is growing and it stands to be a concern. E-waste from Business Sectors including government departments and both public private sectors were the earliest users of electronic products; they account for large part of the electronic used and are the major producers of obsolete electronics. PC manufacturer and retailers are next on the list of contributors to the e-waste segment. The waste from this sector comprises of defective IC chips, motherboards, cathode ray tubes and other peripheral items produced during the production process. It also includes defective PCs under guarantee procured from consumers as replacement items.

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E-waste from imports is also and ever increasing source of E-waste. Huge quantities of e-waste such as monitors, printers, keyboards, CPUs, typewriters, projectors, mobile phones, etc are imported. The computers thus imported are of all ranges, models and sizes, and are functional as well as junk materials.

There is e-waste coming from the secondary or the second hand markets. It includes all sorts of electronic devices. People sell there unused and unwanted electronic items, which are later either re-used or resold. The unused part of these electronic becomes e-waste and flows into the e-waste stream.

E-waste is exported ...

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E-waste is exported by developed countries to developing countries and often in violation of the international law. In the US alone, it is estimated that about 50%-80% of the waste collected for recycling is being exported. China tried to prevent this trade by banning the import of e-waste in 2000,but had not been much successful in preventing China from being the e-waste being dumped dump site. E-waste is still arriving in Guiya of Guangdong Province, the main centre of e-waste scrapping in China. There is growing e-waste trade problem in India. 25,000 workers are employed at scrap yards in Delhi alone, where 10-20000 tones of e-waste is handled each year, 25 percent of this being computers. Other e-waste scrap yards in India have been found in cities like Meerut, Firozabad, Chennai, Bangalore and Mumbai

In Europe, the production of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) is one of the fastest growing business sectors with the expected growth rate of atleast 3% to 5% per year. In USA, it accounts 1% to 3% of the total municipal waste generation.

The Problem

There are various problems and challenges faced in properly managing the E-waste. In my opinion E-waste are both valuable as source for secondary raw material, and toxic if treated and discarded improperly. Rapid technology change, low initial cost and obsolescence have resulted in a fast growing problem around the world. Answer may be Technical solutions but in most cases a legal framework, and collection system needs to be implemented before a technical solution can be applied.

Biggest problem in properly managing E-Waste is that the products become obsolete quickly and are discarded. Electronics are difficult to recycle. They are not designed for recycling. Materials used and physical designs make recycling even more challenging. While companies claim to offer “green electronics,” we are a far way from truly green products. Electronics contain many toxic materials for example monitors and televisions are made with tubes which have lead in them. Most of the flat panel monitors and TV’s contain lead and mercury. About 40% of the heavy metals, including lead, mercury and cadmium, in landfills come from electronic equipment discards.

Another problem with the E-waste management is that the discarded electronics are managed badly

Most of the E-waste still goes in the landfill. The EPA estimates that in 2009, the US generated nearly 3.2 million tons of e-waste. But only 18% of that was collected for recycling. The other 82% went to landfills and incinerators, despite the fact that hazardous chemicals in them can leach out of landfills into groundwater and streams, or even burning the plastics in electronics can emit toxic and prove hazardous.

Another issue is that most Recyclers don’t recycle, but instead they export the e-waste material for profit. Most recycling firms take short cut of exporting e-waste instead of recycling. From 50% to 80% of e-waste that is collected for recycling is shipped overseas for dismantling under horrific conditions, poisoning the people, land, air, and water in China, other Asian nations and to Ghana and Nigeria in western Africa. I read an article

Short Life-Span of the Electronic equipment. Electronic devices have very short life and often it is more cost effective to dispose of a device and purchase a new one, rather than have it repaired. According to Greenpeace, The average lifespan of computers in developed countries has dropped from six years in 1997 to just two years in 2005. Mobile phones have a lifecycle of less than two years in developed countries. With regard to smart phones, in particular, their life span could be even less than a year.

Disposal and Threats

E-waste can be disposed and treated in various ways and these methods can be reason of Hazard.

Land filling is very common and widely used. According to the US EPA, more than 4.6 million tones of e-waste ended up in US landfills in 2000. Toxic chemicals in electronics products can leach into the land over time or are released into the atmosphere, impacting nearby communities and the environment. In many European countries, regulations have been introduced to prevent electronic waste being dumped in landfills due to its hazardous content. However, the practice still continues in many countries. In Hong Kong for example, it is estimated that 10-20 percent of discarded computers go to landfill. Almost all landfills leak. Even the best “state-of-the-art” landfills are not completely tight throughout their lifetimes and a certain amount of chemical and metal leaching will occur. The situation is worse for older or less stringent dump sites. Mercury will leach when certain electronic devices, such as circuit breakers are destroyed.

Another way to dispose E-waste is Incineration. Incineration is a waste treatment process that involves the of substances contained in waste materials. This releases heavy metals such as lead, cadmium and mercury into the air and ashes. These toxic released into the atmosphere can accumulate in the food chain, particularly in fish - the major route of exposure for the general public.

Recycle & Reuse is anther way to dispose the e-waste. This method in my opinion is the best and most responsible way to dispose e-waste. Benefits of reusing electronics in this way are clear but the practice is causing serious problems because the old products are dumped after a short period of use most likely in areas that don’t have hazardous waste facilities. Although recycling can be a good way to reuse the raw materials in a product but the hazardous chemicals in e-waste also mean that it can harm workers in the recycling yards, as well as their neighboring communities and environment. In developed countries, electronics recycling takes place in purpose-built recycling plants under controlled conditions. In developing countries, however recycling is done by hand in scrap yards, often by children.

Recommendation

Every effort should be taken by everyone including the corporate, manufactures, government and individual to properly discard and dispose of the electronics.

Take responsibility for products for their entire life cycle. Along with addressing the upstream issues of using safer chemicals based on green chemistry principles, take responsibility for the product at the end of its useful life. Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), often referred to as product take-back, ensures that manufacturers are responsible for the re-use and recycling of their own brand name products at end of life. Legislation requiring this has now been enacted within the 25 countries of the European Union as well as Japan, South Korea and some regions in the U.S. and Canada. Electronics can be Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle. Donating electronics for reuse, this extends the lives of valuable products and keeps them out of the waste management system for a long time. While buying electronic products, opt for those that are made with fewer toxic components, those use recycled content, are energy efficient, are designed for easy upgrading or disassembly, use minimal packaging and offer leasing or take back options. Look forward to buy and use refurbished electronics. Emphasize on Green-designing. Be committed to design and produce eco-friendly products. Design products such that it can disassemble into component parts that can be reused, recycled.

Create awareness among consumers to use the electronics responsibly. The current awareness regarding the existence and dangers of e-waste are extremely low, and awareness in this area can do lot. Build consumer awareness through public awareness campaigns. This can attribute to a new responsible kind of electronic buying. Partner with e-waste recycling plants. Businesses can recycle e-waste at lower costs due to the advantage of economies of scale. Have a legal framework in place and strictly follow the rules and regulation while handing hazardous electronic wastes. Severe penalties for breach of rules and regulations must be imposed to those who violate the law.

Companies should have specific plan for handling E-waste. For example, the IT companies can give extended offer to customers for upgrading their electronic devices. If companies have the flexible policy to upgrade the sale devices, customers do not need to change frequently their electronic devices. These are possibilities not only for a solution to local problems, but are also applicable to global issues on E-waste.

Conclusion

To sum, the disposal of E-waste is a big issue throughout the world society. But many people do not recognize this. The disposal of E-waste can be a big deal to make lots of profits. But that has huge side effects. If we want to keep our environment clean safe and healthy, we must recognize E-waste as a serious problem and should takes steps to properly manage E-waste. The government and the companies role are important to handle the E-waste problem. While E-waste management throws up a serious new challenge it also brings in new set of opportunities not only to manage E-waste but also for innovation of cleaner and more sustainable products.

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