Just purchased that swanky new mobile phone? Or the latest double door refrigerators with automatic defrost? Or how about that cool LCD monitor that brings pictures to life?
Sounds cool, huh? Too bad, in a few years, it will end up as electronic junk, or to put it more accurately – Electronic waste.
With the progress in technology and advancement, a new kind of a problem has emerged over the last few years – the accumulation of Electronic Waste.
A Cathode Ray Tube of a laptop/TV is very difficult to recycle along with being very expensive. It contains highly toxic substances such as mercury, cadmium and lead that are cancer causing substances.
If it is disposed off in a carefully controlled environment, it doesn’t pose any major environmental risk. However, if it is done in an uncontrolled environment, then it can result in harmful effects for the workers and also releases toxins into the soil, air and ground water.
The most widely used method of disposing off e-waste is by disposing it of in landfills.
In India and other developing countries, apart from the e-waste generated in their own country, they also have to deal with e-waste from other developed countries particularly computer parts which are exported by them under the guise of reusable components.
How can we help in tackling this problem?
- Dispose off your old PC, fridge, TV through the right channels. Do not dump it in an open ground or a residential area where it may just be picked up by some scrap dealers or harmfully enter the soil
- If you are a dealer/seller of white goods, electronic items – make sure that you have connections with the right people who can dispose off the electronic components in a clean and pollution-free manner. Do not give it off to any scrap dealer. Remember it will come back to haunt you one day.
- Let’s publicize this problem as much as possible. With more awareness, there will be more pressure on people to take action and act upon this.
- Try not to buy a newer model of an electronic item just because of marketing gimmicks. Use the ones you have if it is sufficient for the task you need it for.
- Certain organizations have centers in various cities which collect e-waste free of charge and dispose off it in an eco-friendly manner. Direct your old electronic items to such centers to help curb this menace.
Here’s a shocking statistic.
Two million Obsolete PCs mean:
- Plastic - 14,427,000 kg
- Lead - 3,962,700 kg
- Mercury - 1,386 kg
- Arsenic - 819 kg
- Cadmium - 5,922 kg
- Chromium - 3,969 kg
- Barium - 19,845 kg
- Beryllium - 9,891 kg
And two million PC’s per year is what the numbers are currently in India. Imagine the havoc that it is creating on the environment.
In fact, Delhi and Bangalore are the only two cities in India that have a proper e-waste management center. Currently, Bangalore alone accounts for 8000 tonnes of annual computer waste.
All of us who are using the internet or mobile as a medium of communication must understand the dangers of e-waste and use the year of 2009 to create mass awareness of its portent dangers. Let e-waste not become another threat to humanity as we already have many threats to deal with.
