Nature and scope of the problem
E-waste or Electronic Waste is defined as the electrical and electronic devices that are discarded by the owners and are given for the process of resale, reuse and recycling process. The whole process of generating and disposal of E-waste is done by the people to whom the waste belongs but this can result in a number of problems affecting both human health and environmental pollution (Zhang, Schnoor and Zeng 2012). The whole process of unorganised system of waste creation and their disposal is done by the developing countries and the underdeveloped countries of the world who do not have the required amount of resources and technological advancements to renew and rehabilitate the waste products that can result in serious and hazardous damage. The whole affair of creating the waste is done by the companies and the end users in the under developed country. It became a problem at the time when there were more number of technical users and the disposal of the end product was not done in a proper way (Wang et al. 2012). The people who were mostly affected by the problem are the inhabitants of the country in which the waste and the disposal is not done in a proper manner and the methods meant to be followed are not done in the process.
The accumulation and the formation of E-waste is one of the rising problems on the global circuit due to the more number of technologies that is being used in the process. Moreover, the non-regulatory ways in which the waste is being disposed and the circumstances that has led to the formation of such type of wastes has made the problem quite severe in the overall circuit. The electronic goods are generally formed of a number of metals which make the parts of the good really expensive and hard to find (Sthiannopkao and Wong 2013). The disposal of these types of metals and the goods included in the parts make the whole process really harmful and toxic to the materials if not done in a proper manner. The whole conduction of the parts and the unregulatory control of the waste make the process harmful and have a number of side effects for the women and children in general (Ma et al. 2016).
There are a number of health and environmental impacts that are being done in the process which hamper the overall sustainability of the resources. The problem has a number of side effects in the matter namely the health and the environmental problems caused by the heavy and harmful metals in the overall manner (Kahhat and Williams 2012). In terms of the environmental matter, one of the major problems is the contamination with the water and other type of resources whereas in the land with the soil making the soil toxic and prone to diseases. The environment is prone to problems which lead to the mixture of the crops and other type of problems in the matter making the contamination one of the most important and less anticipated things in the matter. There are more over 20 million approximately tonnes of E-waste in the world which lead to the disposal of cadmium and mercury in the matter leading a number of health hazards (Singh, Li and Zeng 2016). The whole waste matter makes sure that the world is turning into a dumping ground that needs to be maintained and made aware of.
Impacts on human health and environmental pollution
One of the primary remedies that is being assessed to control E-waste is to control the amount of materials that are being purchased by the users. If less amount of technical things are being purchased by the users, then there is a possibility that the amount of E-waste generated is comparatively less (Tietenberg and Lewis 2016).
Another remedies is to donate the technical goods that are being used in the process and also to recycle it for some other goods in times of sales and other ways. In this way, it becomes possible for the customer to get another way to get rid of the E-waste that has been accumulated over time.
Extending the life of the electrical device is another way to reduce the amount of E-waste that is being generated in the process. The longevity of the electronic device can be increased by making proper use of the device as stated and also to implement proper measures (Kiddee, Naidu and Wong 2013).
Donating the technical goods to the other people is also one of the chief measures that are being applied by people to reduce the E-waste created by them in the countries where the technological goods waste is surging high.
Another chief remedy that is being applied by the people as well as the organization is to recycle the goods and make them use in a different manner (Zeng et al. 2017). This makes sure that the goods have a better usage even after being used by some other person in the longer period.
Other than the implemented methods for the control of E-waste in the global circle, a number of other recommendations cam be used for the reduction of the E-waste for the same. The recommendations are as follows –
- To buy the technical goods and gadgets that are only required by the person and not to waste the goods in any way.
- To give or donate the goods to some of the under privileged people who need the goods and can derive the benefits from them.
- The government of the countries should invest in various recycling machines and methods to make sure to get the E-waste of the country is getting recycled in the process and also to make amendments to reduce the toxic waste
- The toxicity of the waste should be reduced to minimum so that the problems and the conditions of the E-waste can get at the minimum level. The toxic materials of the waste can be one of the most detrimental cause of the many diseases that are there in the diseases causing problems and situations.
Primary Sources refers to the first-hand information that can be obtained on any of the topics out of the many sources of primary resources. The primary sources of E-waste are mainly the academic journals, government reports and the interviews of the concerned authorities. The government reports and academic journal figures are one of the pivotal sources for the contribution of E-waste in the matter.
As stated the main portion of the E-waste is being generated in the developing and under developed countries of the world where there are no proper evidence of the technological advancements that is being used (Li, He and Zeng 2017). The main evidence of the technological waste is being generated from the under developed provinces and even in developed countries where there are limited amount of technical advancements from both the private and the public sector for making the E-waste turn into more sustainable process. The E-waste amount can be seen in the following –
Figure 1 – Amount of E-waste in the world
(Source – Zheng et al. 2013)
In the figure 1, it is being seen that the amount of E-waste is being generated by the different amounts and types of materials that are being generated in the matter. The percentage amount of each of the materials is being given to get the idea of the amount of materials that are being discharged in the E-waste sector. These materials are primarily toxic in nature and have a number of implications in the health and the environmental matters of the world. It is seen that the amount that is being generated in the greatest amount is the iron and steel that is used to manufacture a number of heavy technical products that are considered as E-waste in the heavy industrial arenas (Herat and Agamuthu 2012). The glass and other metals that are being considered as E-waste by the regular customers and other small technical goods are also a part of the global waste that is being generated.
Effective remedies for E-waste
Figure 2 – E-waste Percent
(Source – Pickren 2014)
In Figure 2, the amount of E-waste is seen to be mostly derived from the air conditioners and other home based appliances that are being used by the normal people in their day-to-day lives. The other types of electrical goods like monitors, televisions and computers also constitute a major portion of the E-waste that is being generated by the world and hampering the environment and the health of the people in the longer time (Tietenberg and Lewis 2016). With the increase in the technical advancements of the world, the increase in the production of E-waste has led to a number of issues and the generation of the E-waste by the different forms is being done in the manner.
Figure 3 – E-waste generated in every country
(Source – Statista.com 2018)
In Figure 3, it is shown that every country of the world, either developing or developed have contributed to the generation of E-waste in some way or the other. The fact that is being highlighted in the chart is the fact that the majority of the E-waste is being generated by the United States of America followed by China. Unites States of America is one of the most developed countries of the world and have ample amount of technical advancements. However, due to the immense use of the technical goods, they are the forerunner in the production of E-waste in the world.
Figure 4 – E-waste by Government Reports
(Source – Department of the Environment and Energy 2018)
In Figure 4, the production of the E-waste is being shown from different parts of the technical sense and is also seen as being produced from a number of sources like large equipment, small equipment, screens and others. The figure shows that the amount of E-waste generated for the year 2016 is 44.7 mt which is quite high when compared to the estimated portion that needs to get generated.
Therefore, from the primary sources we get the ample amount of evidence from which the E-waste from different sources are being collected and accumulated and also the amount of E-waste which is generally more than the amount that should be done.
Secondary Sources refers to the sources that are derived from the primary sources and that reveals the explanations of the primary sources that are being used in the same. The secondary sources that are used in the general case are Newspaper articles and journal articles critiquing the primary research materials. The news in the BBC News reveals that the United Nation has always warned about the tremendous production of E-waste that is one of the major problems of the global circuit. The amount of E-waste as said by the United Nations is on a continuous rise which has impacted the overall wastage of the global circuit and mainly dominated by microwaves and dishwashers. The waste materials accounts for almost 50 million tonnes of E-waste that is being generated by the countries every year which makes it as seem as the mountain of waste, as quoted by the United Nations (News.bbc.co.uk, 2018). According to the news service, there are a number of ways in which the waste is being produced, the most important being the unscrupulous use of the technical devices and the unconditional discard of the same.
Useful recommendations to reduce E-waste
Conclusion
In conclusion, it can be said that the E-waste generation is one of the major problems of the world that accounts for a huge amount of waste generation by the various countries including both the developed and the developing countries of the world. There are a number of remedies that is being implemented in the manner but a lot more can be done. In the report, both the primary and the secondary analysis is being done along with a detailed analysis of the same. The aspects of E-waste, their definition and how they are manufactured is being considered to make the whole concept has some light in the era when E-waste and their discharge is one of the pivotal aspects of the modern world.
In recommendations, the things that should be analysed is that the E-waste discharge should be lessened and should be a proper measure for the analysis and the removal of the waste in the prolonged time. The government and the private bodies should make sure that there are ample amount of process that should be implemented to make the E-waste production less and also some technical improvements should be done to control the hazardous impacts on the toxicity measures. In the end, proper measures from both personal and government end should be taken for the proper implementation of the E-waste management. Further research in the field of E-waste should be done based on both the primary and secondary data that has been collected by the process of research and recommendations. The actions that can be implemented by the E-waste management can be stated to be both the plans to measure and reduce the current E-waste and the ways in which the situation can be tackled. More government pressure and actions to the required is mandatory and made sure to have a detailed reduction in the E-waste all over the world.
Reference
Zheng, J., Chen, K.H., Yan, X., Chen, S.J., Hu, G.C., Peng, X.W., Yuan, J.G., Mai, B.X. and Yang, Z.Y., 2013. Heavy metals in food, house dust, and water from an e-waste recycling area in South China and the potential risk to human health. Ecotoxicology and environmental safety, 96, pp.205-212.
Pickren, G., 2014. Geographies of E?waste: Towards a Political Ecology Approach to E?waste and Digital Technologies. Geography Compass, 8(2), pp.111-124.
Department of the Environment and Energy. (2018). Department of the Environment and Energy. [online] Available at: https://www.environment.gov.au/protection/waste-resource-recovery/publications [Accessed 3 Aug. 2018].
Statista.com. (2018). • Statista – The Statistics Portal for Market Data, Market Research and Market Studies. [online] Available at: https://www.statista.com/ [Accessed 3 Aug. 2018].
News.bbc.co.uk. (2018). BBC NEWS | Technology | UN warning on e-waste ‘mountain’. [online] Available at: https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6187358.stm [Accessed 3 Aug. 2018].
Zhang, K., Schnoor, J.L. and Zeng, E.Y., 2012. E-waste recycling: where does it go from here?.
Wang, F., Huisman, J., Meskers, C.E., Schluep, M., Stevels, A. and Hagelüken, C., 2012. The Best-of-2-Worlds philosophy: Developing local dismantling and global infrastructure network for sustainable e-waste treatment in emerging economies. Waste Management, 32(11), pp.2134-2146.
Sthiannopkao, S. and Wong, M.H., 2013. Handling e-waste in developed and developing countries: Initiatives, practices, and consequences. Science of the Total Environment, 463, pp.1147-1153.
Kahhat, R. and Williams, E., 2012. Materials flow analysis of e-waste: Domestic flows and exports of used computers from the United States. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 67, pp.67-74.
Kiddee, P., Naidu, R. and Wong, M.H., 2013. Electronic waste management approaches: An overview. Waste Management, 33(5), pp.1237-1250.
Zeng, X., Yang, C., Chiang, J.F. and Li, J., 2017. Innovating e-waste management: From macroscopic to microscopic scales. Science of the Total Environment, 575, pp.1-5.
Herat, S. and Agamuthu, P., 2012. E-waste: a problem or an opportunity? Review of issues, challenges and solutions in Asian countries. Waste Management & Research, 30(11), pp.1113-1129.
Singh, N., Li, J. and Zeng, X., 2016. Global responses for recycling waste CRTs in e-waste. Waste management, 57, pp.187-197.
Li, J., He, X. and Zeng, X., 2017. Designing and examining e-waste recycling process: methodology and case studies. Environmental technology, 38(6), pp.652-660.
Ma, C., Yu, J., Wang, B., Song, Z., Xiang, J., Hu, S., Su, S. and Sun, L., 2016. Chemical recycling of brominated flame retarded plastics from e-waste for clean fuels production: a review. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 61, pp.433-450.
Tietenberg, T.H. and Lewis, L., 2016. Environmental and natural resource economics. Routledge.
Order an Essay Now & Get These Features For Free:
Turnitin Report
Formatting
Title Page
Citation
Outline
