Damage Through Poorly Managed E-Waste

🌱 How much e-waste is produced each year?

Global e-waste production is sometimes referred to as “a tidal wave of pollution”. All in all, 62 million tonnes of e-waste are produced each year. This is “enough to fill 1.5 million transport trucks” and makes e-waste “one of the world’s fastest-growing waste streams”.

🌱 What damage is caused by poor e-waste management?

The poor management of e-waste causes “US$78 billion in externalised costs to human health and the environment each year”. Under a quarter of e-waste is recycled properly globally. Improper e-waste management leaves “mountains of electronics to rot away in unregulated dumpsites, where they can leach chemicals into the soil and water”. This can put both food security and the environment at risk. Refrigerants leaking from e-waste can also contribute to climate change when they are released into the atmosphere. Moreover, leached toxic chemicals – such as lead and mercury – can cause developmental delays and stillbirths.

🌱 Why are middle- and low-income countries impacted disproportionately heavily?

High-income countries often send “e-waste and used electronics to middle- and low-income countries through uncontrolled transboundary movements”. In 2022, around 3.3 billion kilograms of e-waste were moved in this way. Due to the large scale of transboundary e-waste movements over the past few decades, the adverse impacts that e-waste has are “especially heavy in the developing world”.

🌱 What role could modular devices play?

Changing the design of electronic and electrical devices is one way to reduce e-waste. Increasing the lifespan of products and making them easier to repair can significantly cut the production of waste. In this context, making sure spare parts are readily available for long periods of time and that parts can be easily switched out by users is key. By designing devices to be “modular”, users can easily subdivide devices into smaller parts and carry out repairs themselves. When parts can be replaced easily and affordably, users are less likely to dispose of the whole device.

🌱 What other solutions are there?

The root problem is the increasing amount of e-waste being produced. Therefore, making sure less e-waste is created by changing product designs and consumption patterns is vital. Making sure that the e-waste that is produced is easier to recycle and working to create cheaper and easier processes for the formal recycling of e-waste is also important. As e-waste is a transboundary issue, global collaboration is key. Across the board, manufacturers and countries producing e-waste need to carry the responsibility for the waste and the damage it creates, rather than simply export the problem.