We are surrounded by technology today. Each and every year, more products and services are produced and during the COVID-19 pandemic, technology has served as our way to stay connected to the world while isolated. We have turned to technology to communicate, shop, work from home, and empower our everyday lives in the midst of what seems to be utter chaos.
But with our growing reliance on technology we are witnessing an unintended consequence, increasing amounts of electronic waste (E-waste).
What happens to all the technology we buy and use when it becomes outdated?
To a large degree, discarded electronics end up in landfills along with so many other byproducts of our throw-away lifestyle. And that’s a big problem because E-waste contributes to harming the environment.
For example, in the United States, E-waste makes up approximately 2% of the total waste found in landfills, but 70% of the toxic waste which means it has a disproportionately damaging impact on soil, groundwater, animal and plant life, and human health and well-being.
The damage caused by the materials in E-waste as they break down can lead to diminished lung capacity, other respiratory problems, impaired thyroid function, and increased risk of diseases such as cancer in nearby residing human populations according to the World Health Organization. Children growing up near landfills contaminated by E-waste are at the greatest risk.
Why is this happening? Because, for the most part, E-waste disposal in general landfill sites remains unregulated. With E-waste management protocols, however, and recycling programs, the effects can be mitigated over the long term. But this requires an effort by companies and governments.
Currently, the vast majority of E-waste is not being managed responsibly. Only about 12.5% is currently being dealt with appropriately to lessen the environmental impact and recover materials that can be used in other products. And because E-waste is estimated to be the fastest-growing waste stream in the United States according to the Environmental Protection Agency, much of it is seen as actually marketable through material recovery or refurbishment and upcycling.
But electronic recycling is limited, with companies often restricting what they accept and limiting when and how they will take new items. Perhaps it isn’t surprising that so much e-waste is finding its way to the landfills, regardless of its potential for upcycling. If you are not familiar with the term upcycling, it is a process of transforming waste material into new products with greater value. And with E-waste predicted to double by 2050, it would appear that is an unrealized business opportunity. And as more companies buy into business principles to “do no harm” and begin to adopt circular economic practices, the future may turn E-waste into a significant profit centre by mid-century and beyond. That’s because circular economic principles when adopted by businesses end waste and pollution once and for all.
As responsible leaders in the community, business owners have a strong obligation to be good environmental stewards. Implementing company-wide measures that support environmental sustainability including the management of the electronic technology the business uses including obsolescence can be handled in a variety of ways. For example, a business can:
The extent to which companies can implement these practices depends on the volume of electronics being used and obsolescence periodicity. Circumstances obviously will vary. But that shouldn’t stop every company from facing the E-waste issue head-on.
Based on expert predictions, E-waste as an environmental problem is expected to continue to grow. We may find ourselves reaching a point in time, not too far in the future, where our landfill sites may be so stuffed with unwanted old electronics we will have created a future environmental nightmare. That’s why each and every one of us has a responsibility to do what we can to prevent E-waste from being disposed of in a way that needlessly impacts the environment. For 21st century businesses, as leaders in local communities, that responsibility is a burden that must be taken up.
]]>So what is it? If you are anything like me you may have accumulated quite a trove of digital devices that have outlived their use.
When I got Jenna’s article I took a look around in our home to take an e-waste inventory and discovered my wife has almost every cell phone she ever acquired from clamshells to smartphones. I, too, have some lying unused in my desk drawers. In our basement storage locker in the apartment building, we have a router, a range extender, a working micro-laptop, an electronic writing to digital text tablet, and an old but still serviceable audiovisual projector. All of these items take up space and fill a large sealed tub. I don’t need them but don’t know what to do with them. I know there are e-waste depots here in Toronto but all these devices still work. I just don’t have a use for them anymore now that we have downsized and I have retired from consulting.
Feeling like a packrat with all these devices made me wonder how others are handling their obsolete or discarded digital technology. I went online to find out just how much is out there. The World Counts website states “we generate about 50 million tons of it every year. This is equivalent to throwing out 1000 laptops every single second.” That’s an astounding amount. So with no further ado, I give you Jenna’s look at e-waste and what we can do about it.
Recycling is a major factor in the push for sustainability and green living. In recent years, you may have heard the term e-waste in discussions about recycling. If you’re not sure what it means, you’re not alone. E-waste is simply electronic waste. It can include anything from cell phones to laptops to refrigerators and more. Anything with an electrical aspect to it can become e-waste.
The problem lies with its handling. Recycling e-waste comes with a whole set of issues but there are ways to combat this environmental threat.
E-waste affects the environment in numerous ways from the presence of toxic materials and pollutants within it to its transportation.
Producing electronics relies on the mining of materials such as gold, silver, platinum, lithium and more. In extracting these raw materials there are process byproducts including toxic chemicals and heavy metals. Lead and mercury are among these.
The housings of electronic devices are often manufactured using polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastic which in itself can prove to be hazardous in disposal.
Most electronic e-waste ends up in landfill where it breaks apart over time exposing the toxic materials inside to pollute the air, ground and water supply. This type of pollution produces many different health risks for people let alone harm to the environment.
Some e-waste gets incinerated which can also be a source of airborne toxins and emissions.
And some is recycled to prevent some of these risks. But even in recycling, there are problems because most of these operations take place overseas.
Many countries in the Developed World export their e-waste to the Developing World. The practice has environmental consequences releasing greenhouse gas emissions during transportation and if recycled can release toxins into the environment. Workers in some Developing World countries often attempt to refurbish and sell salvageable e-waste but in the process they are exposed to dangerous chemicals and substances during the sorting process.
Then there is the issue of e-waste containing digital content that has not been removed by former owners potentially creating security issues and identity theft.
You can no longer separate technology from your life, which is not necessarily a bad thing. The e-waste that is a byproduct of our technology dependence, however, is something that human society has to consider as we continue to be lured into buying a growing number of new devices. It seems that one can never keep up with the latest smartphone model with all of its bells and whistles making the device you already own seem obsolete when in fact it isn’t.
Manufacturers feed the demand by shortening the life cycle of their products. It often becomes easier to replace a device rather than repair it, and manufacturers making fixes more expensive than buying something new.
Raising awareness is an important first step. Consumers have a say and can let manufacturers know that e-waste is a problem for which they need to participate in finding solutions. That means improving production methods, replacing harmful materials in manufacturing with eco-friendly ones. And it means recycling e-waste has to be built into the product lifecycle.
Standard recycling is a beneficial way to help the environment. E-waste recycling is no different with those who do it implementing safety precautions and the wearing of protective gear during disassembly, cleaning, and sorting for material recovery. This type of recycling needs to be adopted globally to be effective and brings us to the issue of product lifecycle management.
The concept known as the circular economy is built around an industrial model involving not just material sourcing, manufacturing, and distribution, but also in the managing of a product after it is no longer being used. It is a solution that has become a growing practice for waste management and the electronics industry. In a circular economy, 100% of the materials going into a product get reused reducing waste and pollution significantly.
Today, there is a disproportionate gap between what society produces and what it discards and e-waste is no exception. This, however, is changing as more manufacturers and waste management companies adopt circular economy principles within their operations. The mantra is repair, reuse, remanufactured and refurbish with non-recyclable and single-use materials being removed from production processes.
The growing demand for new technology is not going to slow down. So the future of e-waste will require a revolutionary change. A move by manufacturers to a circular economy offers a sustainable model for recycling and reuse. And finally, each of us individually, by changing what and when we buy, can save the environment from piling up an increasing amount of e-waste.
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