Just imagine, the world has turned into a massive junkyard, like in the famous Hollywood animation ‘Wall E’, and human beings are forced to abandon the planet only to return after the mess is cleared. It’s hypothetical but our fears could come true one day, if we don’t start shouldering Responsible Recycling!
electronic equipment is no longer a signature statement, confined to the domain of a select few; It has become an integral part of our lives and over a period of time is bound to replace pen stands and writing pads from the desks of almost everybody. It wouldn’t be surprising if pens and pads become collectors’ items and end up being sold for prices higher than communication and computation equipment. And why not, after all, change is the only constant in life.
Today, our life is virtually incomplete without equipment and gadgets like computers, mobile phones, refrigerators, washing machines and electric irons. These items tend to undergo wear and tear and after a point of time cease to be of use. Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE), popularly known as e-waste, is the term used to describe old or discarded appliances.
Once these appliances and equipment reach the scrap dealer, they either gather dust or are dumped into rivers or in open areas, without realising the damage being caused to the environment.
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E-waste contains harmful componants like halogenated compounds, heavy metals besides radioactive substances that can spell danger to health and the environment. Heavy metal like Cadmium, which is used in rechargeable NiCdbatteries, printer inks and toners besides photocopying-machines, can affect the environment due to its toxicity. Exposure to cadmium fumes causes flulike symptoms. Fluorescent lamps contain Barium, which forms poisonous oxides after coming in contact with air. Short-term exposure to Barium could lead to brain swelling, muscle weakness, damage to the heart, liver and spleen. CFC (chlorofluorocarbon) affects ozone layer resulting in more cases of skin cancer. The list goes on.
As far the Indian scenario is concerned, according to an estimate, government offices, business houses, industries and households dump more than two million obsolete computers. On an average, manufactures and assemblers produce around 5,00,000 tonnes of electronic scrap annually. It should be noted that the rate of personal computers (PC) becoming obsolete stands at one every two years.
According to a recent study, in the next 10 years computer waste would increase by 500 per cent in India alone. Considering this, the importance of e-waste management needs to be understood with focus on the 2Rs – Responsible Recycling.
B K Soni, chairman of Eco Recycling Ltd says, “At present, the normal practice is to sell this equipment to scrap dealers after extensive use. These people dismantle and recover whatever best they can and either burn or dilute the remaining parts in hazardous chemicals. They also throw scrap in the open. These waste materials then pollute the air, water and soil.”
Practically, all electrical and electronic equipment contain some useful and hazardous substances. However, when they are dismantled or processed unscientifically, either due to lack of knowledge or earning more from scrap, it leads to polluted air, water and soil. This has given rise to a number of new diseases. We are least bothered about how e-waste is affecting our national productivity, standard of living and causing deaths due to contamination.
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About consumer behaviour, he says, “I fail to understand why can’t we hand over our used gadgets to someone who can responsibly deal with these hazardous substances in a scientific manner?”
Natural resources are limited and our demand is growing constantly. “If we do not recycle whatever we can, we would disturb the natural equilibrium,” says Soni adding, “Therefore, when we want to reproduce either the same or any other item out of the natural resources, we need these ingredients again and again to meet the never ending demand. The need of
the hour is that every single gadget used by us is systematically recycled and the raw material ploughed back in the system rather than harnessing the already depleting resources .”
It has been observed that certain parts of the world are not equipped with proper knowledge, technologies and regulatory framework to handle these discarded end of life electrical and electronic equipment. The rest of them have several excuses and opt for landfill, a cheaper option but it complicates environment and ecology further.
Globally, about 50 million tonnes of e-waste is generated annually which consists of close to 15 million tonnes of steel, practically equivalent to the annual production of SAIL. Similarly, more than 10,000 tonnes is plastic, glass and other material.”
Referring a recent study, Soni says, “According to the study ‘the developing world will generate more waste computers than the developed world. Global volumes of computer ewaste are expected to triple between 2010 and 2025 and by around 2025 the developing world will generate double the developed world’s waste computers. Not surprisingly, developing Asia, due to its high population and rapid growth, is a major contributor to this future waste stream’.”
Are there any solutions? Soni suggests, “The developing world must prepare itself well before this menace leads to natural calamities. It does not mean, we reduce our consumption pattern or compromise with our growth plans but take this as an opportunity to set up required number of facilities to recreate resources out of the end of life electrical and electronic equipment and also generate substantial gains by applying principles of reverse engineering. There by, we can lead as one of the best source of raw material supplier and help generate foreign exchange and create more employment.”
The Term Paper on Natural Resources 7
Natural resources occur naturally within environments that exist relatively undisturbed by humanity, in a natural form. A natural resourceis often characterized by amounts of biodiversity and geodiversity existent in various ecosystems. Natural resources are derived from the environment. Some of them are essential for our survival while most are used for satisfying our needs. Natural resources may ...
Often it is recommended that there should be reduction in consumption, reuse should be promoted and recycling opted for. It is a nice suggestion but in reality, we know that technology changes very fast and the younger generation who are the real drivers of economy will have to reduce consumption and reuse older generation technologies and compromise with productivity which appears to be unfavorable to overall economic growth. We can achieve all our objectives if we focus seriously on Responsible Recycling (2R).
