E-Waste: A Growing Concern
- Shwetha Ganesh Prabhu
- Dec 14, 2020
- 2 min read
Updated: Dec 28, 2020
Electronic waste, or e-waste is any electronic equipment that has been used and discarded. E-waste is extremely harmful because electronics contain chemicals like mercury, lead, arsenic and beryllium that leach into the soil, air and nearby watersheds.
Why Should You Care?
Worldwide, approximately 20–50 million tons of e-waste is produced per year of which 100,000 tons are exported from the UK, as shown in a recent BBC Panorama programme.
According to a recent estimate, the world's e-waste—discarded laptops, iPads, and TVs—will rise by 33 percent to 72 million tons in only three years.
A substantial proportion of the world's e-waste has been shipped to China. China has recently stopped accepting recycled content from the US to protect its climate and human health. This has forced a significant volume of waste to be displaced and will no longer be disposed of properly.
The problem of e-waste in Asia is growing amid concerns about the ability of pre-existing waste infrastructure to deal with the growing amount of e-waste, particularly as electronics include a variety of environmentally deleterious chemicals like mercury, lead, arsenic, and beryllium. When these end up in the landfill, chemicals can leech into the soil, air, and nearby watersheds.
In order to help the problem, we, as people, need to take responsibility to help minimize the amount of waste we generate, particularly electronic waste.
How You Can Help
Note your currently usable electronics and make them last longer.
Don't purchase a surplus of electronics. Try to condense your investments (this will also help you save money). Instead of buying both a laptop and an iPad/tablet, for example, pick the one you think you're going to need the most.
Resell old appliances or donate them so they can be reused (this is a great way to get some of your money back as well)
Dispose of electronics correctly at electronics recycling firms.
E-Waste Disposal Services Around Fremont, CA
Everygreen IT Solutions: 47825 Warm Springs Blvd, Fremont, CA
Y2K Electronics Recycling: 44875-C Industrial Dr. Fremont, CA
Green E-waste Recycling Center: 1664 Watson Ct, Milpitas, CA
"Elite Recycling Services: 37366 Filbert St, Newark, CA
Comments