Electronic Waste

After days of dwelling on what I should start with, how my blog is going to me and what I should write, I have finally decide just to take any random topic which sounds good but at the same time very important for the future.

Electronic Waste, e-waste, e-scrap, or waste electrical and electronic equipment describes discarded electrical or electronic devices. In more simple terms, it's the electronic devices which we think cannot be repaired and are just thrown away. It can range from discarded computers, television sets, mobile phones and even refrigerators. The most important thing people forget to understand is that it is very hard to recycle eletronic waste.

In the U.S. we are tossing over 130 million cellphones in the trash every year and disposing of 17,000 tons of e-waste every day. -ENVIROLIB

Even by the U.S. standards, that seems a lot for e-waste. The problem is not just there but actually exists all over the world. And the number of cellphone users all over the world grow every minute.

Lets look at some of the facts about E-Waste

1. 80 to 85 percent of electronic products were discarded in landfills or incinerators, which can release certain toxic into the air.
2. E-waste represents 2 percent of America's trash in landfills, but it equals 70 percent of overall toxic waste. The extreme amount of lead in electronics alone causes damage in the central and peripheral nervous systems, the blood and the kidneys.
3. 20 to 50 million metric tons of e-waste are disposed worldwide every year.
4. Cell phones and other electronic items contain high amounts of precious metals like gold or silver. Americans dump phones containing over $60 million in gold/silver every year.
5. Only 12.5 percent of e-waste is currently recycled.
6. For every 1 million cell phones that are recycled, 35,274 pounds of copper, 772 pounds of silver, 75 pounds of gold, and 33 pounds of palladium can be recovered.
7. Recycling 1 million laptops saves the energy equivalent to the electricity  used by 3,657 U.S. homes in a year.
8. E-waste is still the fastest growing municipal waste stream in America, according to the EPA.
9. A large number of what is labeled as "e-waste" is actually not waste at all, but rather whole electronic equipment or parts that are readily marketable for reuse or can be recycled for materials recovery.
10. It takes 539 pounds of fossil fuel, 48 pounds of chemicals, and 1.5 tons of water to manufacture one computer and monitor 
11. Electronic items that are considered to be hazardous include, but are not limited to:
• Televisions and computer monitors that contain cathode ray tubes
• LCD desktop monitors
• Laptop computers with LCD displays
• LCD televisions
• Plasma televisions
• Portable DVD players with LCD screens.
12. SOURCE : www.dosomething.com

Thus, the need to find a way in which the waste created can be decreased. I bumped into one such idea for cellphones by Dave Hakkens, a Dutch Designer who has proposed a Lego-like model for mobile phones. The video that I have shared will give you a better idea about it.

Let's hope this idea works and we have many more similar ideas for other electronic devices so that the world can become a better place to live.