{"id":4940,"date":"2019-08-28T12:11:53","date_gmt":"2019-08-28T09:11:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/africasustainabilitymatters.com\/?p=4940"},"modified":"2026-01-11T05:30:30","modified_gmt":"2026-01-11T05:30:30","slug":"e-waste","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rayscohosting.best\/ASM\/2019\/08\/28\/e-waste\/","title":{"rendered":"E-Waste, The Toxic Good"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Nearly a decade ago, smartphones did not exist \u2013 at least\nnot how we think of them today. Now, nearly two-thirds of Africans walk around with\ntheir faces bathed in the glow of the latest models. Every year, over 50\nmillion tons of e-waste is created. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Did\nsomeone say new iPhone?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

But honestly, let us start there. Between June 29th<\/sup>,\n2007 and November 3rd<\/sup>, 2017 there have been fourteen iPhone releases\n\u2013 from the original iPhone (First Generation) to the latest iPhone X. Millions\nof people in Africa have the latest model of iPhone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We have evolved into being a use-and-throw-away culture. iPhones are not our only gadgets that fall victim to the upgrade. Our obsession with ever-advancing technology has placed a high standard on all of our products, demanding that each generation quickly improves upon the last.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Owing to that, let us ask ourselves a few questions.\nIs the computer you have now, the first you have ever owned? Are you still\nwatching TV on that 75 \u2013 pound box that takes up half of your living room? Do\nyou still visit the telephone booth just to make a call?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Guessing the answer for all of us is no. So that begs the question\u2026Where did all of our obsolete electronics go?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\nis Electronic Waste? (E-Waste)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is one of the fastest-growing segments of our nation’s waste stream. It encompasses all broken, unusable or outdated\/obsolete electronic devices, components, and materials. Also, e-waste encompasses items that can be e-cycled (electronics that are going to be reused, resold, salvaged or recycled).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This makes sense as our technology growth rate continues to accelerate exponentially. As previously mentioned, technology seems to become all but obsolete only a short time after it is purchased. That quick turn over usually happens in our periphery because, with electronics, out of sight is out of mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are some basic\nexamples of common electronics that quickly evolved and turned previous\nversions into electronic waste. How many of the items below have you discarded\nin your lifetime:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cellphones, Smartphones, PDAs, Pagers, computer monitors, Computer\/CPUs, laptops, photocopiers, printers, scanners, fax machines, stereo, radios, mp3 player, landline telephones, DVDs, televisions, cameras, CD players, video game consoles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read\nalso: Art Finds Beauty in E-Waste<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The effects of e-waste<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reduce Re-use and\nRecycle are terms most people commonly associate with items such as paper,\nplastic, and glass. The need to recycle these items is understood because of\nthe global impact that they can have when their only purpose is to take up\nspace in a landfill. But what about e-waste?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

E-waste can be some of\nthe most dangerous discarded items but they are rarely seen as such. Why is\nthat? The reason often comes down to their packaging. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is a false sense\nof security when it comes to our electronics being non-hazardous when they become\nwaste. Part of the problem is the packaging of the devices. Their sleek and\nappealing exteriors make it hard to see them as waste. When you look at a\nlandfill image of stacks of old TVs and laptops, for instance, you only see the\nbenign exterior. It is what you cannot see that makes electronic waste\ndangerous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the\nElectronics Takeback Coalition, electronic scrap components such as CPUs,\ncontain potentially harmful components such as lead, cadmium, beryllium or\nbrominated flame retardants. Additional components such as mercury and arsenic\ncan also be present. These elements have a severe human impact through\nexposure. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If these items are not\nhandled well they can cause organ damage, neurological damage, and severe\nillness. These threats come from exposure during recycling and disposal\nefforts. The harmful components leak into the ground as they are packed into\nlandfills or during incineration- common disposal methods. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

How does e-waste affect\nthe environment?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The effects of improper\ne-waste disposal are not well known, however, those that are known have a real\nglobal impact on the earth’s air, water, and soil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 E-waste on air<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Burning e-waste can be used\nas a disposal method but can also be a way to get to valuable metals such as\ncopper. The problem- it releases pollutants into the air. For instance \u2013 when\ncomputer monitors and other electronics are burned, they create\ncancer-producing dioxins that are then released into the air. Yes\u2026 that is the\nsame air we breathe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

E-waste on water<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Remember\nthose contaminants we mentioned before? Some of those are heavy metals \u2013 lead,\nbarium, mercury and lithium (found in mobile phones and computer batteries).\nWhen these heavy metals are improperly handled or disposed of, they can leak\ninto the soil and eventually into groundwater. The heavy metal then makes their\nway into streams, ponds, lake, and rivers. They make the water table toxic and\nunsuitable for human, animal and plant consumption.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

E-waste on soil <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Though the soil is the pathway on which heavy metal\nfind water, it does not go unaffected. The harmful contaminants have a very\nnegative impact on the Soil-Crop-Food Pathway. Crops grown on this soil is\ncontaminated. This causes many illnesses and restricts land for clean food\nproduction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
e-waste <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Solutions for E-waste <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since e-waste is so detrimental to the environment what do we do with it? Electronic Recycling (E-Cycling). E-cycling is re-using or distributing pieces or components of electronic\nequipment for reuse in creating another electronic device.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why E-Cycling?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

E-cycling saves other resources. Producing the brand new electronics that\nwould eventually become e-waste requires a large number of resources \u2013 metals,\nplastics, and glass. The process to create these resources requires a hefty\nvolume of fossil fuels, chemicals, and water.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nearly a decade ago, smartphones did not exist \u2013 at least not how we think of them today. Now, nearly two-thirds of Africans walk around with their faces bathed in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":4941,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[92,118],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4940","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-environmental-responsibility","category-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rayscohosting.best\/ASM\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4940","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rayscohosting.best\/ASM\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rayscohosting.best\/ASM\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rayscohosting.best\/ASM\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rayscohosting.best\/ASM\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4940"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rayscohosting.best\/ASM\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4940\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rayscohosting.best\/ASM\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4941"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rayscohosting.best\/ASM\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4940"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rayscohosting.best\/ASM\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4940"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rayscohosting.best\/ASM\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4940"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}