ARTICLE

    E-WASTE

 

             

Electronic waste, also called e-waste, various forms of electric and electronic equipment that have ceased to be of value to their users or no longer satisfy their original purpose. Electronic waste (e-waste) products have exhausted their utility value through either , replacement, or breakage and include both “white goods” such as refrigerators, washing machines, and microwaves and “brown goods” such as televisions, radios, computers, and cell phones. Given that the information and technology revolution has exponentially increased the use of new electronic equipment, it has also produced growing volumes of obsolete products; e-waste is one of the fastest-growing waste streams. Although e-waste contains complex combinations of highly toxic substances that pose a danger to health and the environment, many of the products also contain recoverable precious materials, making it a different kind of waste compared with traditional municipal waste.

List of common E-waste includes,

n Home appliances

· Microwaves

· Electric cookers

· Heaters  

· Fan

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                

n Communications and Information Technology Devices

· Cell phones

· Smartphones

· Desktop Computers

· Laptop

 

n Home Entertainment Devices

· DVDs

· Blu Ray Players

· Printer

· Copiers

· Televisions

 

 

n Remote Controls Electronic Utilities

· Television Remotes

· Lamps

· Smart Lights

· Night Lights

· Treadmills

· Smart Watches

     

n Office and Medical Equipment

· Copiers/Printers

· IT Server Racks

· IT Servers

· Wifi dongle

How to manage E-wastes and why its important?

n The best thing you can do is to resist buying a new device until you really need it. Try to get your old product repaired if possible and if it can’t be fixed, resell or recycle it responsibly.

n Before you recycle your device, seal up any broken parts in separate containers so that hazardous chemicals don’t leak. Wear latex gloves and a mask if you’re handling something that’s broken.

n Find a responsible recycle . Recycle with the label on their websites have been certified to meet the cleanest and most responsible standards for e-waste recycling. E-Steward recycle also clear your data in their recycling process.

n It is important to keep e-waste out of landfills. Computers, mobile devices, televisions, sound systems, chargers and even household appliances are all recyclable, yet they can also be the most dangerous materials dumped inside a landfill,  When improperly disposed of, the heavy metals, plastics and glass in e-waste can pollute the air or seep into waterways. Recycling e-waste can significantly decrease the demand for mining heavy metals and reduce the greenhouse gas emissions from manufacturing virgin materials.

These are challenges of e-waste

n Growth in the IT and communication sectors has enhanced the usage of the electronic equipment exponentially. Faster upgradation of electronic product is forcing consumers to discard old electronic products very quickly, which, in turn, adds to e-waste to the solid waste stream.

n  The growing problem of e-waste calls for greater emphasis on recycling e-waste and better e-waste management.

n Electronic waste or e-waste is generated when electronic and electrical equipment become unfit for their originally intended use or have crossed the expiry date.

n  Computers, servers, mainframes, monitors, compact discs (CDs), printers, scanners, copiers, calculators, fax machines, battery cells, cellular phones, transceivers, TVs, iPod, medical apparatus, washing machines, refrigerators, and air conditioners are examples of e-waste (when unfit for use).

E-waste disposal

n Since we know consumers will keep buying new devices, it’s important to keep reinforcing that message that we need to recycle the older models, not throw them out.

n There are serious environmental risks if we send our electronics to a landfill. In contrast, recycling provides considerable benefits to our environment.

n The solution is to turn those devices over to an experienced firm like Great Lakes Electronics Corporation, which has years of experience performing environmentally friendly recycling of electronic products.

 

Conclusion

n E-waste  is a great challenge for governments of many developing countries such as India. This is becoming a huge public health issue and is exponentially increasing by the day.

n  In order to separately collect, effectively treat, and dispose of e-waste, as well as divert it from conventional landfills and open burning, it is essential to integrate the informal sector with the formal sector.

n  The competent authorities in developing and transition countries need to establish mechanisms for handling and treatment of e-waste in a safe and sustainable manner.

n Increasing information campaigns, capacity building, and awareness is critical to promote environment friendly e-waste management programmer.

n Increasing efforts are urgently required on improvement of the current practices such as collection schemes and management practices to reduce the illegal trade of e-waste.