The E-Waste Problem
There is another pollution that is quite hard to solve. Read More To Find Out.
What Exactly are e-Wastes?
In the 21st century, our lives are very much linked with computers and smartphones, especially during this lockdown situation. We use electronic gadgets quite a lot.
All of these gadgets has their own life span, they might stop functioning after a couple of years. Once the device is dead, people tend to just throw them away.
Thus, causing harm for the environment, shopkeepers also throw away electronics that doesn’t sell well. All of these wasted gadgets, contains a lot of toxic materials, which when exposed can cause serious problems.
Some of the common e-wastes - Microwaves, smart phones, circuit boards, DVDs etc.
Disadvantages of e-Wastes
E-waste releases a lot of toxic materials but there is another problem. When you throw away a computer or a smartphone, some of the main components inside would be perfectly fine. If by chance your electronic device gets in the hands of a hacker, he can easily access your data and organize targeted phishing attacks. So, it is always better to not throw away these gadgets.
The Problem With ‘Innovation’
When new technologies come by, many of the existing ones gets outdated. For instance, the evolution of VCR players to DVD Players, telephones to Smartphones etc. See, the problem is that when these new technologies come by, the technologies which were ’new’ gets replaced by these latest technologies. Most people would then just throw away the old stuff they had. Thus contributing to e-waste pollution.
E-Wastes in Numbers
- Almost 50 million tons of e-waste are generated world-wide every year.
- In that huge number only 12.5% is getting recycled.
- In 2014, 41.8 Tons of e-waste were shipped to developing countries.
- Almost 7.2 billion mobile devices are being used world wide.
- 350,000 cellphones are thrown away every day.
- One could make $60 Million worth of gold and silver from e-wastes thrown away every year in the United States.
What is the solution then?
There are many ways to reduce the wastage of electronic gadgets. Some of them are listed below :-
- Stop throwing away the old model computers, phones etc. They can be reused by upgrading or changing certain components.
- Companies should reduce the number of versions of a product created.
- Companies should start making their products easily repairable ie. Right To Repair .