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Developing countries may face e-waste crisis: UN

By | Monday, 22 February 2010, 18:31 Hrs | 5 Comments

Developing countries may face e-waste crisis: UN

Bangalore: If proper electronic-waste recycling is not established in developing countries, they will face serious environmental and public health consequences, says a report by United Nations. According to UN, the urgency in addressing e-waste disposal is driven by the sharp rise in sales of electronic products expected over the next decade in emerging countries like China and India, across continents such as Africa, and over large regions including Latin America.

Such imports are expected to add millions of tons of e-waste in regions where recycling efforts are inadequate to handle even current e-waste levels, reports InformationWeek. While inadequate recycling efforts are not being properly addressed, the quantity of e-waste that exists today is growing.

For example, e-waste from old computers is expected to jump from 2007 levels by 200 percent to 400 percent in South Africa and China and by 500 percent in India. E-waste from discarded mobile phones will be about seven times higher than 2007 levels in China and 18 times higher in India, the report released Monday from the UN Environment Programme said. E-waste from televisions will be 1.5 to two times higher in China and India. This year, China is expected to produce about 2.3 million tons of e-waste domestically, second only to the U.S. with about three million tons.

Among the recommendations in the report is for countries to establish e-waste management centers of excellence that build on existing organizations working in the area of recycling and waste management.

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Reader's comments(5)

1: I want to say that developed countries are making developing countries their target for using their land for dumping their wastes in. Because they now the effects of dumping or electronic wastes. Have they ever send their Eco-waste to these countries..No because they know the difference..electronic waste is producing gases after few months due to the earth heat and can cause to several ill effects and land crisis...and the part of that land and near by areas are also getting effected..even you can not use that land for plantation for several years..its gases are similar effective like a nuclear bomb gases...One more thing ..only waste is for developing countries and the material is again sent to these developed countries to produce finished goods...what a pleasant business..waste is yours and taste is ours...Indians stop your land to invite human as well as earth crisis. Only do Eco-waste dumping not ele-waste dumping...Save Earth Save Nature...

Posted by:Hindustani - 22 Feb, 2010

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2: India is running a big dumping industry inside the villages and this is really shameful for Indians that villages are only places where life is secure due to green regions but the people living in urban areas think that if we run over business in rural areas than our business can grow more but they they are the bloody criminals of natural environment..just for earning money they are playing with the life of all humanity. They forget that if village land is used for dumping then where the agriculture can be done..and urban areas can not survive on industries..they need food and vegetables and fruits to survive that is not grown in rural areas..It is my humble request if they want to establish these industries in villages than please do more n more plantations in dumping as well as nearby areas to balance the environment.. And stop operating industries in villages..let some land for agriculture....

Posted by:Pawan - 22 Feb, 2010

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3: I see a bigger threat from developed countries rather than developing.

In countries like India people don't waste electronic items very easily. Still they get them repaired again and again.
Still i can see people using CRT monitors and old cellphones.

scene is different in developed countries.People dump old things and buy brand new.
Also trend is observed countries like America exporting their e-waste to countries like India.

Posted by:Amardeep - 22 Feb, 2010

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4: Electronic waste or e-waste is one of the rapidly growing environmental problems of the world. In India, the electronic waste management assumes greater significance not only due to the generation of our own waste but also dumping of e-waste particularly computer waste from the developed countries.

With extensively using computers and electronic equipments and people dumping old electronic goods for new ones, the amount of E-Waste generated has been steadily increasing. The problem is that the e-waste generated, in the absence of proper disposal, finds its way to scrap dealers. Many end-of-life electronics items contain valuable elements such as gold, silver, and platinum. Unfortunately, E-waste can also contain potentially harmful substances such as lead, cadmium, and mercury. Regardless of whether its elements are valuable or potentially hazardous, handling and recovery of E-waste can be a costly undertaking. These considerations have led to intense debate about how E-waste can best be managed.

In US alone, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that electronics comprise somewhere between 1 percent and 4 percent of the MSW stream--the high-end estimate means approximately 10 million tons of E-waste is disposed annually. To combat this, a congressional E-waste working group was also formed, and at least three separate E-waste bills were introduced in Congress. They are also pressing for a plan to give consumers $15 tax breaks for recycling old computers.

In India, There are eco-friendly recycling units such as E-Parisaraa on the outskirts of Bangalore that make full use of E-Waste. The plant which is India’s first scientific e-waste recycling unit will reduce pollution, landfill waste and recover valuable metals, plastics & glass from waste in an eco-friendly manner.
E-waste encompasses ever growing range of obsolete electronic devices such as computers, servers, main frames, monitors, TVs & display devices, telecommunication devices such as cellular phones & pagers, calculators, audio and video devices, printers, scanners, copiers and fax machines besides refrigerators, air conditioners, washing machines, and microwave ovens, e-waste also covers recording devices such as DVDs, CDs, floppies, batteries, tapes, printing cartridges, military electronic waste, automobile catalytic converters, electronic components such as chips, processors, mother boards, printed circuit boards, industrial electronics such as sensors, alarms, sirens, security devices, automobile electronic devices.

Dr.A.Jagadeesh Nellore (AP)

Posted by:Dr.A.Jagadeesh - 22 Feb, 2010

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5: Unless the emerging economies don't have proper measures in place to combat this crisis, it may start impacting their economy growth also..

Posted by:Das - 22 Feb, 2010

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