CONTENTS
1. Introduction - Presentation of the issue
2. The Life cycle of an electronic device
3. Issues
4. The Impacts of Electronic Waste
5. Sources of E-Waste
6. Solutions
7. Conclusion
8. Questionnaire
9. Bibliography
9.1. Books
9.2. Articles
9.3. Online (World Wide Web) Sources
10. Appendix
INTRODUCTION
The phenomenon of discarded electronic or electrical waste has generated worldwide attention and concern as it is a global problem that is getting bigger by the day. This concern is justified due to the effects of environmental pollution that e-waste causes. An estimated 50 million tons of e-waste is produced each year, globally, and this is projected to rise even further. America is the world’s largest producer with China a close second.
Electronic waste, E-waste, e scrap or Electronic disposal waste electrical and electronic equipment are the different names for the same thing. Electronic waste is defined to be an electronic device that is near its useful life or is at the end. E -waste is becoming a growing problem all over the world. The main source of E-waste is the Information Technology (IT) industries and the way these industries impact on the environment by the amount of resources these industries use in manufacturing product, the amount of power consumed by these equipment, the speed of production as well as the dangerous chemicals that are used to produce these electronic devices and the pollution caused across board. An example is how a computer circuit contain many chemical elements such as gold, copper, cadmium and many more.
Air pollution results out of indiscriminate burning of these scrap materials which leads to the release of dangerous chemicals in their gaseous forms and ash into the atmos...
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...ns of electronic devices even after the older versions still work?
10. Do you buy new versions of electronic devices upon release?
11. Do you have any electronic devices?
12. If Yes please list
13. After your electronic devices become damaged beyond repair (or obsolete), what do you do with them?
14. Are you aware of electronic waste recycle programs?
15. Are you aware about environmental hazards caused by improperly discarded electronic equipment?
16. If yes, please list
17. How do you consider the issue of disapproving foreign imports of second hand electronic devices into Ghana?
18. Have you ever visited the electronic waste section of the Agbogbloshie Marketplace?
19. If yes, what was your impression?
20. Do you have further comments or suggestions concerning e-waste management?
21. If yes please list
Thank you for participating in this survey
The e-waste trade is an exploitative industry in which electronics, circuit boards, old TV’s and desktops that are of no more value, get dumped into third world countries such as Ghana, Vietnam, Malaysia, Pakistan, Hong Kong, and many others. The people of these third world countries than burn the electronics in order to collect the remains and scraps of copper and iron that can be sold for money. The smell and burning smolder of plastic from the computers and old TV’s are incredibly toxic, slowly killing the children, women, and men that burn these e-waste remains in order to create a living for themselves. Adam Smith, Karl Marx, and Emile Durkheim all have theories that can be applied and related to this trade of e-waste. Adam Smith’s theory
Stephania A. Cornier, S. L. (2006). Origin and Helth Impacts of Emissons of Toxic By-Produts and Fine Particles from Combustion and Thermal Treatment of Hazardous Wastes. Environmental Health Perspectives, 810-817.
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.
“Our E-Waste Problem is Ridiculous and Gadget Makers Aren’t Helping” written by Christina Bonnington focus on what dangerous and damaging affects e-waste has on the environment caused by gadget makers. Accordingly over forty million tons of the electronic devices, where a great fraction of the waste ending up in the landfills. For this reason, many of the chemicals in the electronics eventually seeps in the water supply. Although, it is not assume instantly as horrific, numerous chemicals in these devices are hazardous such as mercy, lead, and arsenic. This means the toxic chemicals are putting people and the landscape in danger. Meanwhile, damaged batteries that are in the electronics could cause an explosion, putting worker at risk whom remove
Yet there is a side to the computer that most people don't see. When you go to buy a computer at Fry's or Comp-USA, you rarely, if ever, think about what will happen to the computer when you are done with it. When you buy the Pentium III with 512 MB of RAM, a 40GB hard drive, and 52x CDROM it is hard to imagine it ever becoming obsolete. Yet in two years, it is a piece of junk. And most of this goes into landfills. One computer user writes that she has "discovered that they are excellent at collecting dust and holding up bags of rice, but other than that... [she is]... at a loss to know where to unload this stuff" (USA Today, Jun 99). Despite 11% of the personal computers being recycled, "by the year 2004, experts estimate that we will have over 315 million obsolete computers in the US.
Dell, a global major IT infrastructure provider, has been at the forefront of applying the concepts of Circular Economy to the industry. With improved supply chain management, it has been able to tackle the problem of huge accumulations of e-waste, which comprises metals as well as plastics. A research has revealed that around 50 million tons of e-waste get discarded every year globally, which is a massive burden on the planet. By practicing reverse logistics of takeaways of obsolete computer hardware, Dell is able to release metals like gold, tin, and tungsten into the commodity markets and plastics back into
Statistically, US alone is the leading country in the volume of high-tech trash with 30 kilograms per person and 9.4 million metric tons of e-waste per year. Followed by ...
85% of E-Waste are sent to landfills and incinerators are mostly burned, and release harmful toxins in the air.
On the other hand, major industry firm should be enforced and pressured to avoid any hazardous chemicals during creating their products. They should prepared plan for electronic waste when they are producing every electronic product. Also, industry and people should ensure that their products are properly been disposed and recycled during the electronic waste procedure.
E-waste is affecting our environment due to the amount of technology we throw away daily, such as the chemicals from these devices gets into the air we breathe. When we look at the topic about environmental justice, we can see how this is shown by events like the Flint Water Crisis. Which is a concurrent event in Flint, Michigan that has affected many due to there being no clean drinking water because of lead poisoning from pipes. Another example is how there are not that many local fresh food markets in America and other world countries which have kept people away from the healthy food causing the rate of obesity to skyrocket. Although these are only a few situations of environmental crisis, I would like to get into how our phones could be
The current major stakeholders that are investing within the industry are environmentalist and e-waste companies in which there purpose is the dumping of a total of 47.4-million computers, 27.2 million televisions, and 141 million mobile devices annually into landfills. Programs such like these are collaboration with the big companies such as Hewlett-Packard, IBM, and Dell. Their purpose is to start up a computer-recycling program that will help recycle their products for a fee of $10 per item.
Factories and transportation depend on huge amounts of fuel--billions of tons of coal and oil are consumed around the world every year. When these fuels burn they introduce smoke and other, less visible, by-products into the atmosphere.
They may or may not produce when they are throwing their old devices and buying a new replacement along with that not many people know what toxins are even produced from their gadgets. Toxins that are found in electronics are: “lead, mercury, found in monitors or televisions; polyvinyl chloride, found in computer housing and cables; cadmium, found in resistors and batteries; hexavalent chromium, found in steel housing; polybrominated diphenyl ethers, found in plastic covers, cables, and flame retardants in printed circuit boards” (Seeberger 8). Toxins are found in everyday electronics like: monitors, televisions, computers, cables, batteries, and plastics from the electronics. The harsh chemicals released from the everyday used electronics are: lead, mercury, polyvinyl chloride, hexavalent chromium, and polybrominated diphenyl ethers. Other than all the toxins released from the old electronics,“a handful of Advocates worry about a “regulatory vacuum” stimulate the flow to one-way, out dated electronics to the countries of India, Africa, and Asia. Activist believe 50 to 80 percent of the 300,000 to 400,000 tons of waste collected through recycling in North America alone is transported overseas (Smith 1). Along with all the other countries and continents in the world, The United States creates the most e-waste in the world (McAllister 1). Overall, the way people are dealing
Waste incineration units produce a lot of carbon dioxide gas approximately around one third of the greenhouse gasses. It also impacts people’s health as they get exposed to the toxic emissions by breathing in the air or consuming contaminated food and water. Additionally, when the garbage gets burnt by the incinerators they end up as ashes which are then emitted from the chimneys, including the toxic materials and end up in specialist landfill sites for hazardous waste.
America and Europe are at the top of the list for most waste generated according to Waste (4). This is very visible because there’s litter on every street in the towns and cities, as well in lakes, beaches, and rivers. The book Waste by Rob Bowden states that the amount of waste produced is increasing at a rate faster than population growth. About 1.5 million computers, in the U.K, are thrown away each year and most end up in landfills. There are 3 types of waste which are Municipal Solid Waste, Industrial Waste, and Hazardous waste. MSW includes waste from public garbage cans and local dumpsters. Industrial Waste includes massive amounts of waste water that is contaminated with chemicals. Hazardous waste is the most dangerous as it presents a danger to human health and the environment. Solutions for waste disposal take time because people need to consider their lifestyle and limit the amount of waste they generate. A good start is to recycle items such as paper, cans, plastic, and clothes. This way they don’t end up in landfills, beaches, or streets. Another solution is to join organizations that go around places to recycle, or organizations that demand the reduction in the amount of products that are being