E-Waste (A Silent Threat)
E-Waste (A Silent Threat)
Only a little of your electronic waste is really recycled?
Electrical devices are valuable, even if they are no longer wanted. The recycling rates are alarmingly low. This is mainly due to a way of thinking that goes into the supposedly cheaper way at the expense of the environment.
Is that what all about?
There are six kilograms of e-waste per head on our planet. The mountain of electronic waste in India and worldwide is growing every year. The worldwide use of electronic devices is becoming increasingly widespread – this is an enormous problem for the environment.
Two million tons of e-waste – that’s how much we produce in India every year. A huge number alone does not fully reflect the problem, because e-waste is not just garbage. Components in Smartphone and other electrical devices are not only valuable, but often also toxic. E-Waste only makes up two percent of the waste streams, but 70 percent of the hazardous waste components that end up in landfills. An exact separation of the individual components in order to recycle usable elements is time-consuming and not always worthwhile.
Electric cars and motorcycle could lead to more scrap:
The increasing global demand for electric cars have an immense share of the increase in electronic waste. The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates that up to 125 million’s of electric vehicles could be active by the year 2030, which is 40 times more than today. The global recycling rate for this market is currently only 42%. Around the world, countries including India have introduced laws that make automobile manufacturers responsible for recycling batteries.
What is electronic waste?
The Partnership on Measuring ICT for Development, launched in 2004 (an association for the provision of information and communication data in developing countries) defines electronic waste as everything that has a plug or a battery: From printers to desk lamps, Smartphone, refrigerators, computers, Televisions and projectors that have reached the end of their “lifespan” and associated components. Few countries currently have a uniform method of collecting this waste. E-scrap comes from a variety of sources, private households and industry.
What makes electronic scrap so special?
In addition to plastic parts, electronic waste can also contain valuable metals such as gold, nickel, copper and infrequent supplies such as palladium and indium. The expensive components are found in Smartphone in particular. Today, a ton of Smartphone contains far more gold than a ton of gold ore. 5.1 billion Smartphone users are there in 2019 when compared to 2017’s 1.7 billion users. Each device contains an average of $ 100 worth electrical components.
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Recycling is often not economically worthwhile:
Nevertheless, tons of expensive raw materials in the form of electronic waste are simply thrown away every year. Despite these figures, reprocessing is currently so complex that recycling is often not economically viable. Modern devices in particular contain increasingly complex components. Often it is not possible to separate them in detail and you have to concentrate on certain elements. Even experts often do not know what elements are in the individual component. In addition, many people apparently build such a bond with their devices that they do not go for recycling after use, but remain in the household.
How effectively is electronic waste recycled?
In India 95% of e-waste is cast-off in the casual segment and in an unfinished method. The international recycling rate is even lower at around 30 percent. There are many reasons for the low percentage of recycling. Majorities of old devices simply end up in storage, in drawers or go to household waste. Large devices are popular with scrap metal users in India. After circuit boards or metal bodies have been removed, most of the rest goes to combustion.
Extraction very complex
Often the elaborate mining of precious metals from the “electric mines” is simply not wanted. At the moment, the extraction of valuable raw materials is still very energy and labour intensive. This is not only due to the fact that the company’s own precious metal projects are only very limited in Europe. To make matters worse, the relevant components, or their recovery from natural sources, would make a major contribution to global warming.
Recycling could become more effective:
The recycling process could soon be at least significantly more effective, almost a quarter of the scrap in our region of the world is not recycled as shredder residue or dust from the exhaust air filtering.
This residue would be burned in India, and sometimes even deposited. A recycling of the finest components is almost impossible. The solid materials like gold, copper, palladium and silver in the e-waste can be divided for re-sale in circumstances that are totally safe. Only around 30% of the coveted metal would be recycled.
Conclusion
According to predicted estimates recycling of e-waste makes ecological sense, improvements in the procedures and can ensure that the recycling of electronic waste can also be economically accepted, so that less mine dismantling would be necessary. Resources that are becoming scarcer on earth are also arguments to threat the valuable components of our waste more effectively.
image source
- new-picture-31-773074-hbzKtVcj: http://blogs.colgate.edu/sustainability/files/2019/11/Ewaste.png
- new-picture-32-644756-7ADRAiBX: https://cdn.vox-cdn.com
- new-picture-33-006396-l55boedG: https://static.businessworld.in/article
- new-picture-34-873497-jF4OPzJE: https://cdn.downtoearth.org.