A report by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), entitled Recycling – From E-waste to Resources, discloses the amount of e-waste being generated in 11 countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. The data on current estimates are also used to project future e-waste

e-waste is just a euphemism for waste materials coming from products of technology. They are hazardous waste from electronic devices that have been submerging the developing world. They are mountains of garbage that have been exponentially growing, particularly in certain parts of the world that have become highly polluting. Phones, old PCs, abandoned and discarded electronic components make up the e-garbage that is choking the planet. These electronic waste materials contain hazardous chemical components. ‘Global e-waste generation is growing by about 40 million tons a year.’

Some countries are at most risk. In India, for instance, the amount of e-waste mobile phones alone will grow 18 times by 2020. The same e-waste will grow seven times in China by the same projected year. The United States, China, India, Brazil, and Mexico are the places most suffocating from e-waste.

On the other hand, some people are cashing in on the further extraction of material value from e-waste. From the junk can be extracted cobalt, gold, silver, and palladium. However, the extraction of these substances poses a high cost to the environment. Often, especially in China, incinerators are used in the process, or even open-air grills, resulting in a disastrous impact on the environment and a serious risk to human health.

The UN report underlines the necessity and urgency of finding common global rules and standards in safer e-waste disposal and recycling systems.

Photo Courtesy of Bert van Dijk in Flickr

Via The Jakarta Post