Technology is everywhere and is obsolete. It has become a necessity in modern times but what happens to those products if they were replaced? Where do they go? These never-to-be-used again products are called E-waste. E-waste or electronic waste is referred to any kind of electronic device that have been discarded or devices that have been thrown away. They are also known as one of the fastest and great contributor to garbage streams that greatly impacts the planet due to its hazardous effects on both the environment and living creatures.
Where does e-waste come from?
Technology has become a necessity in the daily lives of consumers. Thanks to industries, these electronic products (technologies) have become faster, more advanced, and more
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In figure 2, it shows that countries with higher GDP produce more E-waste. United States and China have the highest GDP ($17, 419.0 and $10, 360.1) and both countries also have the highest number of e-waste produced (7072 and 6033 kt). Although, even if the population of a country is higher, that doesn’t necessarily mean that higher e-waste will be produced. In figure 3, it shows that there is no correlation between the number of population and number of e-waste generated in each country. Why does higher population not necessarily mean higher e-waste? That’s because not everyone in that country may be able to buy technology. People in those countries may be poor and e-waste generation is related to the amount of individual’s income. Figure 4 suggests that electronic waste produced is related to the income of consumers meaning the amount of e-waste produced is increasing with the buyers’ individual wealth a.k.a purchasing power.
Why should we recycle electronic wastes? Three reasons: Economics benefits, public health benefits, and environmental benefits.
• Economics Reasons:
Electronics wastes have a ton of valuable materials (see table 6), can provide jobs, provides better opportunity for scarce elements to strive before they completely run out, metals can be recovered (see table 8; metals recovered from recycling 1 million
In the article, “From Gadget to Garbage: Tackling The Problem of Discarded Technology” from the Orange County Register, the NewsELA staff states, “No one is sure how much e-waste ends up being exported from the U.S., the EPA says, but “the United States government is concerned that these exports are being mismanaged abroad, causing serious public health and environmental hazards.” The quote explains that by exporting e-waste incorrectly, public health and the environment are being put at risk. The quoted statement implies that e-waste shouldn’t be exported and should stay in it’s country, for public health and environmental safety. When the author uses the word, “mismanaged” it means the incorrect handling of things, which in the article the
Giles Slade stated, “E-waste represents 2% of America's trash in landfills, but it equals 70% of overall toxic waste” (Slade, 2015). Electronic waste is extremely harmful on the environment and contaminates the water we drink, the air we breathe, and the soil we grow our vegetables in. Electronics contain high amounts of heavy metals, which are extremely toxic to all forms of life. According to GreenPeace, “it is estimated that 10-20 percent of discarded computers go to landfill” (GreenPeace, 2009). With our technology constantly advancing, we begin to find that e-waste continues to grow at an exponential rate. Many people want the newest and best technology, which leads to the older electronics being tossed out. Instead of individuals taking their old electronics to be recycled though, they tend to throw it in the waste bin and it doesn’t get the proper disposal it needs. According to GreenPeace, “it is estimated that 10-20 percent of discarded computers go to landfill” (GreenPeace, 2009). That percentage is a pretty hefty, especially when 60 Minutes estimates that “130,000 computers are thrown out every day” (CBS, 2008). With that estimate and percentage, anywhere from 13,000 to 26,000 computers are thrown out every day and not properly
Recycling is a very essential and crucial process in our world today. The term recycling means that waste can be converted into new products instead of being discarded. As the population continues to grow, humans are using more and more products. In order to reduce the amount of waste on planet Earth, and to preserve its resources, recycling is significant. Not only does recycling allow the environment to thrive, but it also allows living people to thrive as well. There are many materials that can be recycled. Plastics, electronics, aluminum, food and glass are only but a few products that can be recycled. Recycling can benefit our environment in numerous amount of ways. However, without recycling, negative impacts on our environment can occur. Some of these effects include pollution whether it is air, land or sea, depletion of natural resources and even an increase threat to global warming. Therefore, recycling is extremely important to sustain our environment.
Electronics Recycling. Electronic recycling is one consideration the company can do better with. Recycling in general lowers greenhouse gas emissions that are caused by manufacturing items for the first time. Recycling electronics conserves natural resources making cleaner air and water. The valuable resources computers and electronic components carry are metals, plastics, and glass. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), recycling a million laptops would give back enough energy for 3500 American homes’ electricity. A million cell phones would could yield 35,000 pounds of copper, 772 pounds of silver, 75 pounds of gold, and 33 pounds of palladium. Instead of throwing out the old computers and blackberry’s, the company could simply upgrade the hardware or software and then recycle the parts necessary.
E-waste or electronic waste is the number 1 fastest growing trash in the united states since 2004. E-waste is made up of lead, mercury, , and caldium. All of these Acids are deadly to the human body. Alex lin and many other teen activists work with these acids every day. Also, These activists are trying to stop these deadly acid from seeking into the ground and killing natural resources. These acids can also get into the water systems and harm people. When you get a new electronic you would most likely through it out in the TRASH, but you should recycle old electronics. According to the Electronic recycling 101 article, 3 million tons of electronic are trough out and only 13.6 of them are recycled. This shows that many people are unaware of
As used electronics is becoming a waster hazard worldwide local governments such as where I live include programs at local waste stations purely for electronics. This encourages local residents to freely drop off their electronic waste, like TV’s and computers and mobile phones to these locations where the waste is sorted and than shipped to facilities that can process this waste appropriately which also includes recycling as much material as possible. This has a
It has become the new “norm” with people to replace their electronics because their devices become out of date or they feel like they have to have the latest thing. In the article “Our E-Waste Problem Is Ridiculous, And Gadget Makers Aren’t Helping,” by Christina Bonnington, the author discusses how people buy new electronics every year when they come out and the old ones get abandoned. She also talks about how many people aren’t properly recycling their old devices and how some electronics can be impossible to recycle the right way. She also talks
Today, with over 7 billion people on Earth, the demand for technology is rising rapidly. As companies work hard to meet demands and mass produce technology for both society and businesses, they release harmful chemicals and gasses which pollute the environment and result in climate changes (Ramey). And not only does the overproduction of technology pollute the air, but it also harms the ground that we stand on. Technotrash, or any broken or unwanted electronic device, is currently the most rapidly-growing type of waste (Green) and according to GreenDisk, a company dedicated towards safely recycling technotrash, over 80% of technotrash is not being recycled. While technotrash represents only 2% of America’s trash in landfills, it equals 70% (emphasis) of overall toxic waste (“11 Facts”) because the toxins in technology can leak into the ground (Anthony). For example, lead from cell phone circuit boards can cause
According to Cord Jefferson’s same article, There Are No Ethical Electronics, So Buy Less Stuff, he mentions the effect our electronic waste has on the Chinese. While many Chinese men, women, and children are working for little pay every day to scrap electronic waste, they are exposed to toxic elements known to cause cancer. Such elements include lead, mercury, and chromium. Something that Jefferson also brings to attention is that these conditions can become better, he mentions that “Consumers can and should demand better from our electronics manufacturers—when we do so, things change” (Jefferson). Consumers taking more action to bring ethical electronics to the country is something yet to be
In my animation, I will be focusing on how to recycle electronics properly and that throwing away technology is wrong and can have horrible effects on our environment. An example is that most electronics which are
If you where to ask a small child in Nigeria—"what do you do everyday?" They will most likely answer, "burning e-waste and selling the minerals inside in in." Not an answer you would receive from an American children living in the Untied States. Slowly this kids are being sicken by all the dangerous substances that e-waste contains. Soon this will lead for their bodies to stop growing properly. They will eventually die. Old electronics should not be thrown away, instead recycled. Because it is not healthy for the people in the countries that try to take out the material inside of the e-waste. And because we need tougher laws. Also because you can recycle.
Every year people in the U.S create about 660 million pounds of tech trash. Tech trash can pollute the environment because electronics can have dangerous chemicals like lead and the chemicals could leak into a river and pollute the water. How do we stop this? One way is to use electronics as long as you can. Also you can donate electronics to a charity or a neighbor. Another way is to look for a certified e-waste to recycle your electronics.
In modern society, computer becomes popular, and people work and study based on computers. However, when these computer gets old and unusable, the electronic wastes would damage our environment hardly. Electronic waste contains a lot of heavy metals such as lead and cadmium which are highly toxic. These metals cause acid leaching which contaminates ecosystems nearby. For example, a CRT( Cathode Ray Tube) monitor can have up to 2.2kg of lead that is poisonous, which can lead to fumes, food contamination, and skin absorption. Also, these heavy metals such as beryllium, cadmium, and lead release chemicals which help to contribute to global warming and create a poor air quality with too much pollution.
How often do individuals change your electronic equipment? Does anyone know where used electronic merchandise go to? Electronic waste is called an E-waste that has been becoming a serious issue all over the world. People should be concerned in this century because E-waste contains hazardous, toxic ingredients which have adverse effects on society “Toxic chemicals in electronics products can leach into the land over time or are released into the atmosphere, impacting nearby communities and the environment” (“Where”). Young people are not aware of the caveat that used electronic products to bring. E-waste causes not only the environmental problems such as air and water pollution but also health problems. An amount of E-waste has been increasing rapidly. Moreover, it has even been turning the land into substantial electronic landfill mountains. Three primary reasons for electronic waste: waste is the accelerated development of science and technology, increasing world population and over-consumption.
Recycling is a common practice around the world to reduce the overall quantity of resources needed to produce new products. Whether recycling is cost effective compared to the benefits is widely an unknown detail. The public while weighing the benefits almost never considers the cost of energy and labor in combination with undesired effects of pollution associated with recycling.