Electronic Waste: What should we do?

This post is the second part of the series Electronic Waste and the Environment. You can read the first part titled "Electronic Waste: What is the Issue?" here. Electronic waste or e-waste has become a major concern with significant environmental impact and we must ask ourselves. What should we do to help the environment and future generations of our planet?

2019 data and insights

- the Philippines generated a total of 32,664.41 metric tons of e-waste

- the Philippines generated approximately 3.9 kilograms of e-waste per capita

- approximately 53.6 million metric tons of e-waste were generated worldwide and is projected to reach 74.7 million metric tons by 2030

Current Solutions

Informal Recycling - Companies from developed countries export their e-waste to developing countries because of high costs and strict regulations of formal recycling. In 2012, the United States produced 10 million tons of e-waste but only 29% of this is recycled. But according to the study, 40% of supposedly recycled e-waste was actually exported to developing countries, usually in Asia where informal recycling is normally unlicensed and unregulated. Informal recycling workshops recover valuable materials manually by burning devices to melt non-valuable materials, use mercury and acids to recover gold, and dismantling devices by hand. Workers in this kind of facility usually don’t wear proper protective equipment which exposes them to harmful chemicals and substances. This kind of recycling exposes workers to health hazards and results in environmental degradation.

Formal Recycling - Proper or formal recycling involves disassembly, categorizing, cleaning and finally extracting valuable materials from e-waste. In the Philippines, Republic Act (RA) 6969 or the Toxic Substances and Hazardous and Nuclear Waste Control Act was enacted in 1990 as a regulatory framework on e-waste management. Treatment storage and disposal (TSD) is a pilot program under the Environmental Management Bureau(EMB) of DENR. The project aims to dispose of 1.12 tons from 50,000 units of electronic waste in 2019. TSD facilities are required to register with EMB to document and provide details of e-waste recycling operations. This provides clear guidance and training on the proper dismantling and recycling of e-waste while providing green jobs to Filipinos.

E-waste problem requires multiple solutions

While e-waste grows around the world, recycling alone will not be enough. Below are some ideas and solutions that are being researched, considered or practiced around the world to solve our e-waste dilemma.

Designing better products - require manufacturers to design electronics that are safer, more durable, repairable and recyclable.

The right to repair - it is important for consumers to be able to repair and reuse their devices and must not be hindered by copyright.

Extended Producer Responsibility - requires companies that make products to be responsible for the management and disposal of their products

More convenient recycling - provides a convenient and safe way to recycle and sell old devices.

The goal of a circular economy - aims to keep products and all their materials in circulation at their highest value at all times or for as long as possible.

Conclusion

E-waste is an ongoing and growing crisis as consumers buy digital devices everyday. As an advocate of protecting our environment, I highly encourage everyone to reuse, repurpose and resist buying new devices. If you have a 10 year old laptop or PC with low specification, you can revive it by using a lightweight operating system like Linux or using my own FlickOS which is also based on Linux. If you have old and outdated mobile phones, you can repurpose them as CCTV cameras with motion detection and auto recording to monitor your home.

Old mobile phone CCTV in action

There are many other ways to reuse and repurpose our old devices, we just need to be more creative and more concerned about the environmental impact of our actions when we buy new things and discard our old but usable devices. As a last resort, when we can no longer reuse, repurpose or repair our old devices, please give it to the proper recycling facilities and do not just throw it away along with other garbage.

Disclaimer: This is a school project that aims to provide information on an environmental issue and to spark collective actions for the preservation and protection of the Earth’s ecosystems.

References:
The Philippines: making money making e-waste safe | UNIDO. (n.d.).
https://www.unido.org/news/philippines-making-money-making-e-waste-safe

Miguel, M. (n.d.). EMB: National policy, regulatory framework already in place for e-waste mngt.
https://www.denr.gov.ph/index.php/news-events/press-releases/1918-emb-national-policy-regulatory-framework-already-in-place-for-e-waste-mngt

Cho, R. (2020b, July 30). What can we do about the growing e-waste problem? State of the Planet.
https://news.climate.columbia.edu/2018/08/27/growing-e-waste-problem/

[Interesting Engineering. (2022, July 19). How to Turn Electronic Waste Into Raw Materials]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3KUJTDPsSE

Global E-Waste Statistics Partnership. (n.d.). E-Waste.
https://globalewaste.org/