Electronic Waste Essay

548 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Solution to e-waste

Intro:
Electronic waste (e-waste) is a hazardous pollution effecting our environment and our lives. It is caused by the disposal of electrical appliances due to malfunction, exhaustion or obsolescence. This type of pollution is a concern due to its rapid growth and popularity in today’s society as well as the high levels of toxicity contained within such appliances (Hein Online citation: 17 Vill. Envtl. L.J. 307 2006).

Body
An article on The Human and Environmental Effects of E-waste by Lucy McAllister states that roughly 40 million metric tons of electronic waste is produced globally each year. According to the “Hazards of E-waste: 2014”, e-waste accounts for 40 percent of the lead and 75 percent of the heavy metals found in landfills (Landfills: “The disposal of waste material by burying it, especially as a method of filling in and reclaiming excavated pits” (Landfill: definition of landfill in Oxford dictionary)). Although these electronic appliances are safe when used, once discarded, the acidic conditions can provide an environment in which lead and other heavy metals, which a...

Show More
Related

  • Pros And Cons Of Resources Recovery Act

    492 Words  | 1 Pages

    Even though electronic waste contributes one percent of waste as discussed earlier, it poses a significant threat to the environment. “RCRA does not, however, cover electronic waste except CRTs, nor does it regulate electronic devices donated for educational or charitable reuse.” The RCRA should implement rules to govern e-waste because e-waste not only affects lives in the United States, It affects everyone globally. E-waste typically finds its ways out of the United States and ends up in developing countries like

    Read More

  • Our E-Waste Is Ridiculous, By Christina Bonnington

    372 Words  | 1 Pages

    The article “Our E-Waste Problem Is Ridiculous, and Gadget Makers Aren’t Helping” by Christina Bonnington explains that our landfills are being filled with unused electronics of yesteryear. In 2011, there were 41.5 million tons of electronic wastes in landfills. In 2016, they projected the number to go up to 93.5 million tons. Specifically, our old products are in landfills now such as, HP computers, computer towers, cell phones, and batteries. The reason for all the waste is the human race is buying the newest electronics and not disposing of their unused and unwanted electronics properly. Also, not all of the unused electronics are recyclable. E-waste has a huge negative effect while in landfills because electronics breakdown and they breakdown

    Read More

  • Ridiculous And Gadget Makers Aren T Helping By Christina Bonnington

    217 Words  | 1 Pages

    The article, “Our E-Waste Problem is Ridiculous, and Gadget Makers Aren’t Helping,” by Christina Bonnington, focused the process of electronic devices to be recycled, the challenges of recycling electronic waste, and making devices more recyclable. First, Bonnington described the recycling process. Depending on the condition on the product will determine if it will be reused or stripped down to be destroyed. According to the author, having a simpler design makes the reprocessing easier to bare the electronics for turning into materials. Next, the author mentioned the challenges of recycling. One challenge is how electronics are becoming more compact and tougher to strip apart to separate the materials. Conferring to Bonnington, batteries are

    Read More

  • Pros And Cons Of Recycling

    1810 Words  | 4 Pages

    that help advancement throughout the complete hardware store network can lessen electronic waste contamination. Besides transfer or reusing of hardware can have noteworthy human well-being and environment sways. Gadgets can hold lead, brominated fire retardants, cadmium, mercury, arsenic and an extensive variety of different metals and concoction mixes. In...

    Read More

  • The Pros And Cons Of E-Waste

    1013 Words  | 3 Pages

    Electronic waste, or any waste for that matter is an inevitable part of an economic system where the destruction of an ecosystem is the primarily source of resources that are used to create the product. The waste that occurs from this process has to be disposed of in some way and more often than not, it is disposed of carelessly with out consideration to the affect it would have on the environment or the very people that create and let capitalism live on, “The political economy approach also defers progress on environmental issues to a pint after economic ones are solved” (Robbins et al. 2010, 114). And if this continues there may be no place left for the excess waste created by capitalism.

    Read More

  • Sustainability And Humanity Case Study

    640 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...ion even more. We tend to shop for more products that we want because we are never contented on what we have. This results into an increase amount of electronic waste products that often end up in our landfills, or are being burned in incinerators, all to which are the cause of air, land, and water pollution.

    Read More

  • Academic Essay: Academic Argument: Waste Management

    1301 Words  | 3 Pages

    Waste management is the operation of how waste materials are handled. The affair of waste management is relevant to everyone world-wide. Wastes are materials that have no further economic use, and when disposed of, are hazardous to humans and the environment. Wastes include solid waste, liquid wastes, and air pollutants created by humans and cannot be naturally recycled. Current waste management techniques need to be completely overhauled because funding in government budget is not enough to meet standards, landfills are reaching their maximum capacity worldwide, and nuclear waste storage must be handled correctly. Waste management has been a highly thought about complication for global authorities. Due to

    Read More

  • What Is Solid Waste Essay

    817 Words  | 2 Pages

    CHAPTER-2 Solid Waste Solid waste, are the things you throw away, whether it may be solid or liquid, it’s still considered as solid waste. What is a solid waste? Solid waste is the trash you’ve been making your whole life and as I’ve said before all the things you throw are considered solid waste, here are some examples of solid waste. Waste tires, septage management, scrap metal, latex paint, furniture and toys, garbage appliances, and vehicles oil and anti-freeze empty aerosol cans. Solid waste can also clog canals that are used for lessening the amount of water when it rains, it can also damage our ozone layer as you know the thinner it gets the lesser oxygen is left.

    Read More

  • Negative Effects Of Cell Phone

    1424 Words  | 3 Pages

    The average cell phone is used less than 18 months and 140 million of them end up in a landfill each year.(Statistics) The landfills are slowly filling up with our obsolete cell phones. The phone’s circuits are coated with lead, and the lithium ion batteries often explode in landfills creating craters of heavy metal toxic waste for future generations to have to deal with. Even though there is an effort to recycle this waste, the problem is going to get worse before it gets better as more and more of the world’s citizens embrace cellular

    Read More

  • The Environmental Impact Of Apple

    1452 Words  | 3 Pages

    The environmental performance of numerous tech companies has been evaluated and since Apple has grown over time, it has received more attention. There has been a frequent campaign against Apple by different environmental organisations such as Greenpeace requesting for the elimination of hardware components that are non-recyclable hardware components, a comprehensive plan that would make the products of Apple not end up in the waste and the removal of toxins from iPhone hardware (Apple Inc. 2016). As much as such campaigns affect the operations of Apple Inc., they are good since they help in the conservation of the environment thus having a good impact on the

    Read More

  • Essays On Recycling

    812 Words  | 2 Pages

    Recycling. What does this word mean to you? Do you recycle? Do you support or oppose the act of it? What is written in the following paragraphs may or may not help you make this one special planet in our solar system we call Earth; the only planet scientists know supports life. Recycling benefits many aspects of life. Recycling benefits the aesthetics of our daily environment, it makes our family and friends safer from sickness, it boosts our economy, and it allows us to make more use of the limited natural nonrenewable resources we have on our earth. Recycling will benefit life by reducing our environmental impact, preventing injury, boosting the economy, and extending the use we can make can make out of our resources.

    Read More

  • The Importance of Recycling to Our Health and Environment

    1175 Words  | 3 Pages

    In old batteries, there is a toxic lead that is causing health problems for the Taiwan people who are disposing these batteries (Gay, 12). Space is becoming a landfill from the excess of space flights and the radioactive supplies from nuclear reactors, which could come to our atmosphere and explode (Gay, 13). When businesses run out of space to dump their toxic trash they go to poor nations because they do not have strict safety regulations (Gay, 31). The landfills on Earth are not the only place trash is getting put. The ocean is being trashed with plastic bags, soda can holders, and large fishnets, which are harming dolphins, turtles, sea lions, and others (Gay, 69). Military bases in the U.S have more hazardous waste and are responsible for contamination in soil and waters (Gay, 83). There are other hazards happening because we are throwing away so much stuff that companies have to remake all of those products. Incinerators are places where waste is burned to ashes and if we recycle these can go away. Incinerators cause sulfur dioxide, carbon m...

    Read More

  • Effects Of Solid Waste Essay

    1070 Words  | 3 Pages

    Solid waste can be classified in different types, depending on their source, household waste is generally classified as municipal waste; industrial waste as hazardous waste or hospital waste as infections waste. It quite obvious that South Africa environment is deteriorated by the illegal dumping area that around here. Solid waste is a major problem this country is facing at the moment. The province that is experience this major problem is Gauteng province, this an urban area am taking about, and since it’s clear that over population is the cause of the problem. Gauteng province is an over populated than rural area .solid waste pollution is refuse or garbage that people use in their everyday life in their house, such as plastic

    Read More

  • Essay On Importance Of Recycling

    775 Words  | 2 Pages

    Recycling is of great importance, and its importance is economic and environmental. It preserves natural resources, reduces depletion, reduces the amount of waste, reduces its growth, conserves the environment, cleanses it of some harmful waste, reduces unemployment and creates opportunities. New work.

    Read More

  • Essay On Waste Disposal

    1650 Words  | 4 Pages

    Wastes are the products of our consumptions in our daily life routines such as lunch, work, school and other things we do. Little things such as throwing out a piece of paper, we are producing waste by the seconds. After we consume a product we usually throw out what’s left that can’t be consumed any further. Results in producing waste, substance that are born after it’s been use or consume by us. At the end of each day we throw out a bag full of garbage, all of the materials in that bag (paper towels, cans, leftover foods and many other material’s) all of these are waste. Hospitals produce medical waste such as use needles for treating patients. Corporations produce papers, plastics, tires, steels, cans and many other type of solid waste which contribute to the pollutions that cause health risk and other environmental issues.

    Read More

More about Electronic Waste Essay

Open Document