We are in a digital world where everything is operated through electronic devices. These electronic devices need to be handled in a certain way and have their own validity. After a specific period, the electronic devices reach the end of their lifecycle and become useless to their owners. When the owners do not properly dispose of their waste electronic devices, they accumulate in the form of “electronic waste” or “e-waste”.
The categories of e-waste include IT equipment (laptops, computers, notebooks, notepads, monitors, tablets, etc), household devices (Washer, dryers, refrigerators, microwaves, purifiers, air fryers, heat pumps, air conditioners, toasters, fans, kettles, etc), consumer durables (TVs, mobile phones, digital watches, calculators, routers, bulbs, LEDs, etc), medical devices, building devices, toys, and many more. The e-waste also includes toxic substances from the gadgets such as mercury, selenium, barium, cobalt, lead, liquid crystal, arsenic, etc. which are very hazardous.
Categories of E-Waste | |
IT Equipment | laptops, computers, notebooks, notepads, monitors, tablets. |
Household devices | Washer, dryers, refrigerators, microwaves, purifiers, air fryers, heat pumps, air conditioners, toasters, fans, kettles |
Consumer durables | TVs, mobile phones, digital watches, calculators, routers, bulbs, LEDs |
There is debris of e-waste which is polluting the environment and is creating a threat to the lives of many species. The increasing rate of e-waste is an alarm to the environment, especially in developing nations where digital products are used in large numbers, and that multiplies their disposal volume too. To overcome the harmful hazards of digital waste, the developed nations usually practice cheaper methods of e-waste disposal which may also turn out unsafe to the environment. The presence of highly toxic metals and substances though in small quantities, poses a significant threat to the environment.
According to the Global E-waste Statistics, 57.4 Mt (Million Metric Tonnes) of e-waste was generated in 2021. The total is growing by an average of 2 Mt a year and the same is projected to grow to 74.7 Mt by 2030, which means it will increase 200% within the span of 16 years.
There will be over 347 Mt of e-waste not recycled on the Earth in 2024. China, India, and the US are leading countries to produce e-waste. Only 17.4% of e-waste is known to be collected and properly recycled of which, Estonia, Norway, and Iceland have the highest e-waste recycling rates. The e-waste recycling market was valued at $49,880 million in 2020.
Even though 66% of the world’s population is covered by e-waste legislation, only 20% of the e-waste is recycled every year. If we agree to the statistics then, 40 million tonnes of e-waste is treated as the most sub-standard way to recover the data. The data so recovered from these abandoned devices is used unethically and illegally by hackers and other illegitimate bodies. In the awakening of international treaties such as the Basel Convention which encourages regulatory movements to restrict hazardous waste between nations, illegal shipment and dumping of e-waste has not stopped so far.
A large part of the e-waste comes from personal devices such as smartphones, monitors, laptops, tablets, etc., and then followed by household appliances such as heaters, air-conditioners, TVs, microwaves, etc. The US itself generates 100 million computers as e-waste of which less than 20% is recycled. Whereas, China records 160 million e-waste of electronic devices in a year. For many years, China was treated as a dumping yard where many countries used to dump their digital waste on the lands of China. A major portion of China’s population has expertise in dismantling electronic junk. India generates around 146,000 tonnes of e-waste every year internally. Emerging economies such as India and China import substantial amounts of digital waste, both legally and illegally.
(Source: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2022/12/e-waste-electronic-climate-recycling/)
The European Union (EU) has clearly mentioned the directives relating to the collection, recovery, and recycling of e-waste. The directives are to be followed by all its member countries which stipulate a minimum collection of 4kg/capita per annum. Switzerland stands as the first country in the world to regularise e-waste management and recycled 11 kilograms/capita of digital waste against the minimum collection from the European Union (EU).
The directives of the EU aimed to increase the availability of recyclable materials and reduce the disposal of hazardous substances into landfills. The act of the EU indirectly encourages less virgin materials consumption in new products. EU also reported an appropriate treatment for the one-third collection of electronics and electrical waste. By introducing the EPR scheme in 2003, the producers of South Korea collected about 70% of e-waste of which 12% was reused and 69% was recycled, remaining sent to landfill sites.
In developed countries, the handling of e-waste is given high priority along with the measures for the people involved in the process. Whereas, the developing countries replicate measures of developed countries without considering other factors like investment, technology, and skilled workforce. The developing and under-developed countries like India, China, Pakistan, Peru, Ghana, Nigeria, etc. are the biggest recipients of e-waste from the developed countries. Due to a lack of awareness and enforcement regulations, the e-waste is handled with inadequate occupational safety measures. Therefore, there is a need for regulatory compliance in the interest of the safety of the workforce involved in the retrieval, recycling, and disposal of e-waste.
According to the United Nations 2020 e-waste monitoring report, the US generates around 46 pounds of e-waste per capita every year. The UN e-waste analysis also estimated worldwide production of 53.6 million metric tons of e-waste, yearly. Of which, only 17% of this waste is treated responsibly, and the remaining 83% rests in homes and businesses or is disposed of unethically.
The amount of plastic waste and textile waste annually are 300 and 90 million metric tons respectively, which are quite high compared to e-waste. On the other side, e-waste recorded the fastest growing waste stream in the world at 3% to 5% annually compared to 2% of plastic waste and 3% of textile waste. Eminently, digital waste carries valuable materials within it.
The most common materials found in digital waste are iron, tin, aluminum, and copper. There are many valuable and scarce materials that are left unpicked from the waste. This creates a lucrative opportunity for the global e-waste market to grow. The market was valued at $49,880 million in 2020, and it is projected to almost triple to $143,870 million by 2028. (Source: https://theroundup.org/global-e-waste-statistics/)
The process of sorting e-waste is labor intensive. As of now, most of the e-waste is retrieved by a large group of people who bring zero skill and awareness about treating the e-waste scientifically. A disruption in the current process by creating awareness and training the labor can create employment opportunities.
Managing e-waste is not easy and requires a series of activities to execute in a better way. Digital waste carries a lot of sensitive data of their abandoned users which needs to be destroyed first. There are many hackers and manipulators who are seeking this data for their personal benefit. In order to maximize the value of e-waste, components must be segregated to be processed for the next steps. The process of segregation is laborious and can be improved if manufacturers consider circularity and recycling in their initial design. It would also help secure a reliable source of materials in the future.
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2023/03/the-enormous-opportunity-of-e-waste-recycling/
Even though there is no proper data, it is often observed that e-waste is mixed with other waste such as metal and plastic. This hampers the recycling of plastic and metal and contributes more to the environmental damage.
The e-waste comprises of high-value raw materials and metals such as gold, silver, iron, and copper. According to the records, recycling of one million used phones has recovered 772lbs of silver, 35,000lbs of copper, 75lbs of gold, and 33lbs of palladium. On the other hand, 82.6% of electronic waste couldn’t be recycled leading to a loss of $47billion worth of valuable metals.
Raw Materials Per Million Cell Phones Recycled | |
Silver | 772lbs |
Copper | 35,000lbs |
Gold | 75lbs |
Palladium | 33lbs |
E-waste is not biodegradable and accumulates on the land. Over time, it spreads across the area and the greenhouse gas contained within will slowly release into the atmosphere.
The toxic materials in the e-waste such as mercury and BFR plastics create hazardous impact on the environment and health of animals and humans coming into contact with it. These materials damage the air, soil, or water which is detrimental to ecosystems as well as human populations.
Every digital device brought into the environment creates its own carbon footprint. When the existing ones are not recycled properly, the new ones create an additional burden on the environment. The manufacturing processes should be more towards eco-friendly products and services. Also, the recycling process of e-waste creates greenhouse gases which could be reduced or avoided while manufacturing. Refrigerants used in temperature control of electronic and electric devices such as refrigerators, and air conditioners are a house of greenhouse gases. In 2019, discarded fridges and air con units released CO2 equivalents that actually accounted for around 0.3% of total global energy-related emissions.
The technology giants are taking extensive steps to promote a circular economy and bring awareness among consumers to dispose of their e-waste responsibly. Through initiatives such as Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR); Design for Environment (DfE); Reduce, Reuse, Recycle (3Rs), etc. manufacturers in developing and developed countries are focused on increasing the reuse and recycling rates, and adopting sustainable consumer habits. The global e-waste recycling market has estimated a revenue generation of US$4.68 billion by 2025 from $3.85 billion in 2020, registering a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3.9%.
The association of Basel Action Network (BAN), Silicon Valley Toxic Coalition (SVTC), and Electronics Take-Back Coalition (ETBC) aims to network with NGOs in the US who are working on means to deal with e-waste in an environment-friendly manner. The three organizations’ common objective is to promote national-level solutions for hazardous waste management. In India, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) released the updated E-waste (Management) Rules, which came in supersession of the E-waste from 2016 onwards.
Some environmental groups say multibillion-dollar companies like Apple and Samsung should pick up the cost of recycling the devices they sell. Lawmakers in parts of Europe and Canada and in some U.S. states have passed so-called Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) laws, which require manufacturers to establish and fund systems to recycle or collect obsolete products. “Worldwide EPR legislation levels the playing field, because this cannot be done on a voluntary basis,” said Scott Cassel, the founder of the Product Stewardship Institute, which advocates for EPR laws. “But the United States is resisting any changes to existing laws.”
Source: https://time.com/5594380/world-electronic-waste-problem/
Where many countries are focused on improvising the process to recover rare and valuable materials, there is a need to encourage sustainability in e-waste management. Following are the few strategies that can shift the paradigm towards better growth prospects in the e-waste management industry –
The leading IT and electronic companies should introduce recycling centers for their in-house products. They shall encourage start-ups in different ways to propose and execute various means to reuse and recycle digital waste. It would reduce the amount of scattered e-waste on the planet and also allow fresh minds to contribute towards environmental growth.
Collaborations with IT companies that can automate the process of segregation of e-waste may bring advanced recovery technologies in areas of tracking, tracing, monitoring, and recovering components from e-waste.
Market consolidation will encourage the players in waste management to explore the potentiality of the e-waste industry and position themselves as leaders in offering sustainable e-waste recycling solutions.
The manufacturing companies of electronics and electrical should introduce a cleaner approach to handling e-waste. The manufacturers should equally focus on reducing the burning of e-waste as the process releases a lot of toxic and carcinogenic substances.
The stakeholders of waste management should develop patented software for IT asset and disposal services to strengthen their market presence and capitalize on the limited entry barriers.
Individuals have a very important role to play in e-waste management. It has been observed that we treat our waste devices the same way how we treat our daily waste, by dumping it into the trash. Few people also try to burn their digital devices to destroy the data present in them or for some other reason. Such mishandling of digital assets is hazardous especially when practiced at home. When burnt, gadgets release many hazardous substances such as furans and dioxins which can hamper breathing.