Dr. Anwesha Borthakur
The title of my article is the theme for 2022’s International E-waste Day (IEWD) – a day observed worldwide to remind us all of the alarming increase of electronic waste in the contemporary world. This year, the focus of the IEWD is on the small electrical and electronic devices that we often keep in our cupboards and drawers at the end of their lifecycle.The list of such devices hoarded in our households, offices, educational or business establishments is indeed quite long – pen drives, headphones, mobile phones, cameras, computer mouse, keyboards, clocks/watches, irons,radio sets, electronic equipment chargers, pocket calculators, video recorders,small medical equipments such as a thermometer or a pulse oximeter, electrical and electronic toys,routers and GPS devicesto name a few! Among the readers of this article, there will barely be anyone without having any or many of these products stored unattended in their households. We no longer use them yet we keep them somewhere in the house. Owing to their small sizes, they do not usually take a lot of storage space and thus, could be conveniently stowed. Now, what are the implications of such stockpiling of small electrical and electronic devices? Let’s talk about it on the occasion of IEWD 2022.
The United Nations recently estimated that out of the approximately 57 million tonnes of all E-waste generated in 2019, over 22 million tonnes came from small electrical and electronic devices. This is roughly 40 percent of the total global E-waste volume. Similar to their large-sized counterparts, the material composition of small electrical and electronic devices offers enormous potential for recycling. For instance, a study published in a reputed American Chemical Society’s journal established that a smartphone is typically made of 260 diverse metallic and nonmetallic fragments. The same research concluded that, on an average, 1 kg of smart phones consist of about 190.9 mg of gold, 1,732.9 mg of silver and 40.1 mg of palladium. Thus, the concentration of these precious metals in smartphones are several times higher than that in the natural ores.Extracting these metals from the E-waste volume rather than exploiting the nature for miningwill not only result in higher profitability but also will contribute immensely to the environmental sustainability. By hoarding our small electrical and electronic devices in our drawers or cupboards, we end up denying such possibility. And considering the amount of E-waste produced globally and current disturbing trends of destruction of nature and wildlife for fulfilling the greed of human society, this is precisely something one should attempt to avoid.
Nevertheless, here come a few challenges and concerns. Firstly, although there are initiatives in the Global North to collect E-waste including small devices through various domestic action plans, such collection efforts are still a rarity in the Global South. This lack of both information and efforts result in most citizens not knowing where to responsibly discard their obsolete electronics even if they wish to. Secondly, ensuring safe disposal of an electronic device not only points to a secured material discarding but also concerns privacy related issues too. Today a smartphone,for instance, often contains the owner’s personal data and information such as emails, bank details, numerous passwords or credit/debit card specifics. Accordingly, consumers will come forward for recycling of their electronic products only when they are ensured of safe handling, confidentiality and complete removal of their personal data. Stringent well-thought-out privacy and data protection strategies must always precede E-waste collection endeavours.Finally, E-waste provides extensive entrepreneurial opportunities which are yet to be adequately explored in the developing countries and emerging economies. India, with a massive dissemination of information technology, digital literacy and as a major producer of E-waste, has enormous potential to be a frontrunner in turning our obsolete electronics into valuable resources through greater government involvement at national, state and local levels, higher public participation and new green and sustainable business models.
(The author is Researcher at the Rachel Carson Center for Environment and Society, Germany and KU Leuven, Belgium)
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