Here's What no one tells You About E Waste

E-waste is becoming a depressing reality of this age. With the increasing usage to electronic in every step of our life, the discarded electronics are increasing as well. America is facing a real challenge and in the coming years it is to increase at a tremendous rate. America alone is dumping around 60 million tons of e-waste annually. As things are getting cheaper day by day, generation of such waste in such amount is not a wonder. But it the negligence people are showing towards this is something that tickles. If this issue goes unnoticed then we might face severe consequences. Here are few things that every person should be aware of about E-waste.

What is E-waste?

Every element that goes into an electronic or electrical device such as the wires, circuit, batteries etc all turn out as E-waste. The old phones that we throw away or the computer disposals or the home applications, all end up as E-waste.

What happens to E-waste?

The e-waste is mostly generated by the developed nations, around three-fourth of which is collected, shipped and dumped in to the landfills of developing nations. There the E-waste is either sorted out for reusing purpose of is burnt down to extract the scrap metals. These processes are harmful for people residing around the area and the environment as well. Only the remaining one-fourth of the E-waste is recycled and reused. The rest goes to landfill.

Proper Disposal of E-waste

Electronic waste contains many elements which are toxic to human and the environment. A US-based study team has notified that around 60 elements of the periodic table can be found in the e-waste. Elements such Cadmium, Lead, Mercury, Polyvinyl Chloride are found abundantly in the e-waste and are extremely harmful for humans.

Alternative of E-waste

Most of the e-waste generated these days can be recycled and reused, instead of throwing it away as garbage. Recycling old computers, phones and other applications is the need of the hour. Many companies collect these e-wastes and responsible convert them and recycle them. The cell phone batteries and the metal content can be easily used to incorporate in new ones. The expensive metals such as gold, platinum etc can be used to make jewelry or other electronic devices. These recycling processes might seem absurd at first but these will turn out quite profitable.

Where to dispose the E-waste

There are many fake E-waste collectors these days that will collect them under fake recycling programs but eventually export them to nations who buy them for the scrap metal. These E-wastes should be handed over to trusted and certified collectors who will ensure recycling and reusing.

Trade-in policies by Companies

Companies such as Apple and Dell are promoting recycling programs where they accept used phones and laptops from customers for a considerable value and use that money to buy new versions. Dell Reconnect is a program that goes for recycling laptops with responsible policies that recycles and reuses the disposed materials.

As government doesn’t pay attention towards this issue, the people are also least aware about it. The laymen are unaware of the problems and solutions. Spreading information about E-waste will save us a lot of energy and cost. Recycling is a solution that will be profitable to all.