E-waste is rapidly becoming a serious threat to the environment as more gadgets are being discarded after use for newer models and snazzier designs. And all these old electronics are either being dumped in landfills or being disposed by untrained workers in the informal electronic waste disposal centres, using primitive and polluting techniques. The problem is electronic waste must be treated and disposed carefully and responsibly, otherwise as these electronics break down, they release toxic heavy metals and other hazardous chemicals into the environment, causing pollution and serious health effects.

While new leaps in technology might have made the world a better place in terms of communication, the dark side of the digital age – e-waste, seems to have become a festering wound that needs to be taken care of before it’s too late. E-waste in India is expected to touch the 1.72 million metric tons by 2020. Another UN report says that e-waste from computers in India is expected to increase by 500% over 2007 levels. Recycling e-waste in an eco-friendly manner is the only we can deal with this problem. But recycling e-waste doesn’t just offer a solution for dealing with e-waste, there are other far reaching benefits too.

E-Waste Recycling – How it Helps the Environment

Let’s take a look at some of the many reasons how recycling e-waste can help the environment:

Prevention of Environmental Contamination - E-waste is full of toxic components like arsenic, lead, mercury, beryllium and chemical flame retardants. When e-waste ends up in landfills, they seep into the ground causing soil pollution and contamination of the groundwater, which can cause severe health issues in nearby communities apart from contaminating other natural resources in the vicinity. Also, improper disposal of e-waste by informal e-waste disposal setups through techniques like incineration and acid stripping releases toxins from e-waste into the atmosphere. For instance, when lead containing e-waste is burnt in local disposal setups, lead is released into the eco-system, which can severely disrupt the normal functioning of water and soil systems. Recycling e-waste in an eco-friendly manner, however, helps address such issues by ensuring that these toxic components are treated carefully and recycled and reused wherever possible, without harming the environment.

Conservation of Energy - In a world that primarily relies on non renewable energy resources for its energy requirements, recycling e-waste can significantly boost energy efficiency through conservation. For instance, manufacture of electronics has become more energy intensive today. A study published in the Journal of Cleaner Production found that, about 70% of the total energy consumption of a typical laptop takes place during its manufacture, and not during its operation. This energy consumption takes into account all the processes involved in the manufacture, right from mining for raw materials to the final packaging. However, the energy and costs involved in recycling e-waste to reclaim and reuse material for manufacturing new products is considerably lower than that of manufacturing costs involved in mining and then processing new raw materials from the soil. Also, reclaiming and reusing material from recycled e-waste has a lower carbon footprint as compared to manufacturing products by mining and processing new material. For instance, recycling aluminium consumes 95% less energy as compared to the mining and production of new aluminium. Recycling e-waste is also less energy intensive, reduces green house gas emission and lowers air pollution.

Conservation of the Earth’s Resources – Electronics are loaded with valuable resources including iron, gold, aluminium, copper and palladium to name a few. With more and more electronics being manufactured each day, more and more of these materials are being used up and we are quite likely to run out of these resources in the near future. However, each day, millions of electronics are also dumped in landfills, making them a treasure trove of such valuable materials. With proper e-waste recycling, such materials can be reclaimed from e-waste and reused for manufacturing new products. Instead of lying in landfills and polluting the environment, e-waste when recycled responsibly can help conserve these rapidly depleting resources.

While e-waste can pose a serious threat if not managed properly, recycling e-waste responsibly can allow us to cut back on environmental pollution through e-waste, as well as help us conserve energy as well as a lot of valuable natural resources. All we need to do, is to make more environmentally conscious decisions when disposing of our old electronics. Don’t just trash them in the garbage can or sell them off to your local scrap dealer, find an eco-friendly e-waste recycler and recycle your e-waste responsibly.

Did you know e-waste in India is all set to touch 1.72 million metric tons by 2020!Did you know that electronics contain hazardous toxins that can cause serious environmental pollution and even be fatal to life! With new gadgets being launched every day, more and more electronics are being discarded – making e-waste the fastest growing portion of the waste stream. Electronics need to be disposed correctly to prevent pollution and health hazards. Unfortunately, a major portion of the e-waste, lands in the unorganized sector -where e-waste is disposed carelessly and incorrectly. Something needs to be done quickly, lest we are left struggling in a quagmire of polluting hazardous e-waste.

Attero and IFC have joined hands to launch the Clean E-India initiative to take stock of the e-waste situation in India and work together to set up an effective take back program for end of life electronics, while actively spreading awareness about the hazards associated with e-waste. Although, the growing e-waste volumes have led the Indian government to implement E-Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 2011, it leaves out the unorganized sector – which is where most of the e-waste ends up (approximately 95 percent). IFC and Attero’s joint Clean E-India initiative has been designed to bring into its fold the unorganized sector along with all other stakeholders involved in the electronics lifecycle, and work together to deal with the problem of e-waste efficiently and effectively.

The Dark Side of the Digital Age

The unorganized sector involved in the disposal of e-waste, consists of unregistered enterprises and informal players, who work out of a typical scrap yard. These setups use primitive and hazardous techniques like incineration and acid stripping for disposing e-waste, which release toxic gases, adding to environmental pollution. Workers employed in such centres (often women and children) scavenge through toxic e-waste and dismantle them with bare hands – completely unaware of their hazardous working conditions. Other environmental problems resulting from such informal recycling operations include contamination of water, land and air as well as various health disorders due to exposure to toxic materials in e-waste such as lead and mercury.

Attero-IFC Clean E-India Initiative

IFC and Attero’s joint Clean E-India initiative will implement an integrated take back program, covering Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Hyderabad over a period of three and a half years. The initiative aims towards an all inclusive and sustainable approach, to ensure that all e-waste is channelled to a formal supply chain, which integrates the unorganized sector to Attero’s state of the art recycling facilities. A large number of e-waste collectors will be integrated into the formal supply chain, which will ensure lower collection costs as well as bring about a positive social impact. The Clean E-India initiative will also raise public awareness about proper disposal of electronics such as cell phones, televisions and computers.

The initiative aims to benefit all the stakeholders involved in the electronics lifecycle, right from the unorganized sector, to original equipment manufacturers and promote proper and efficient disposal of e-waste. OEMs benefit as they can focus on their core business activities, the unorganized sector benefits by being assimilated into the legitimate e-waste reverse supply chain, while workers benefit from improved working conditions and standards of living, consumers benefit by finding a way of responsibly disposing their old electronics and the environment and community as a whole benefits from eco-friendly e-waste management and prevention of pollution.

E-waste today is the fastest growing portion of the world’s waste stream. At the current growth rate, e-waste in India is all set to touch the 1.72 million metric ton mark by 2020. This is because, as consumers, we keep buying new electronics and gadgets at a mind boggling rate and trashing the old ones. New technologies emerge every second day, making that old gadget, which is still in working condition, obsolete and undesirable. Besides that, some electronic gadgets just don’t last long, while some electronics are cheaper to replace than repair. Along with that, newer designs for smaller and thinner electronics like smartphones, laptops and tablets, make it harder for consumers to stick to their gadgets for longer periods – everyone wants the latest, sleekest and the snazziest phone, although their old phone is in great working condition and still far from its end-of-life stage. The result is a never-ending stream of e-waste. And for the most part, the electronics industry is responsible for designing electronics that are meant to be trashed before reaching their end-of-life.

Designed for the Landfill – How the Electronics Industry is Responsible

Let’s take a look at how the electronics industry is responsible for getting consumers to discard their still working products for new ones –

• Hardware Failures - According to a research conducted by Square Trade, a warranty service provider for electronics, nearly 1 in every 3 laptops will fail within the first 3 years as a result of hardware failure or malfunctions. Since in most cases, purchasing a new laptop is cheaper than getting the old one fixed, a majority of such consumers will opt for the latest laptop and trash their old machine.
• Mobile Phone Upgrades – Smartphone companies constantly upgrade their products with newer technology and sleeker designs, which render their older models obsolete. As a result, people switch from their still working older phones to newer models. This has led to the emergence of ‘dead cell phone drawers’ where discarded mobiles, along with other electronic gadgets like mp3 players, PDAs, chargers etc. end up over time, further adding to the e-waste stream.
• New Tech - When television broadcasters shifted to digital signals from analog signals, many consumers replaced their working analog TVs with new digital ones, because they wanted HDTV technology or because they didn’t want to worry about fixing a converter box to their old TV. In this case, the emergence of new technology (digital signals) led to the junking of perfectly working old electronics, further increasing the amount of e-waste being generated.
• Unchangeable Batteries - Most small gadgets and electronics are powered by rechargeable batteries. Over time these batteries become non functional and have to be replaced. However, in many cases, consumers are unable to replace the batteries themselves and need to send it back to the manufacturer for replacement. To avoid hassles about sending the gadget to the manufacturer, consumers often prefer to buy a new gadget instead. One such example is Apple – the company replaces batteries for its products like iPhones, iPods, iPads and Macbooks for a huge fee and only if you send or take the product to them. This is why many people prefer to opt for a new gadget altogether, instead of spending a hefty sum on replacement and worrying about sending it to the manufacturer. As a result, gadgets that have nothing wrong with them are trashed, pushing in more e-waste into the environment.

Designed to Last

Electronics companies need to shift from producing disposable gadgets designed for a short life span to products that have been built to last. Instead of electronics that are cheaper and easier to replace than to fix, companies should focus on designs that can be repaired easily and last longer. Instead of buying electronics with higher failure rates and replacement rates, we should have the option of purchasing products that are long lasting, upgradeable and can be repaired and eventually efficiently recycled.

Your Mobile Could Be Funding War & Human Rights Abuse

Known as the deadliest conflict worldwide since the Second World War (WWII), the Second Congo War left 5.4 million dead, and millions of others displaced. It involved eight nations in the African continent and around 25 other armed groups. Although, the war formally ended in July 2003, the conflict still rages on, destroying lives in its wake. And your snazzy new mobile phone could very well be the reason!!

You’re probably wondering what your mobile phone has got to do with the war raging in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The link is coltan and other rare earth metals, which are essential for the production of mobile phones and other electronics. Coltan is used to extract tantalum, a good electrical conductor, which is extremely heat resistant, making it practically irreplaceable in electronics today. Let’s take a look at some facts and you’ll get an idea of how bad the situation is.

Coltan – Blood Minerals – Some Facts

According to a study by the Enough Project, the world’s consumption of mobiles, laptops and other electronics are fuelling widespread violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The study highlights how conflict minerals like coltan are mined in war torn Congo, sold by armed rebel groups to purchase more arms and even as the direct cause of increasing violence and human rights abuse in the country.

The report states that “Armed groups generate an estimated 144 million dollars each year by trading four main minerals: the ores that produce the metals tin, tantalum, tungsten, and gold.”

Coltan Mining – The Vicious Cycle

So what’s happening here!! Fuelled by the world’s greed for better and the latest electronics, coltan mining has led to a vicious cycle of armed conflict, oppression and deaths. In fact, mining of these conflict minerals affects all aspects of the society the minerals are being mined in – child labour, absence of education, absence of healthcare, poverty and the detrimental impact on the environment.

According to estimates armed rebel groups earn somewhere around $8 million a year from coltan mining alone. And all of this blood money goes towards procuring more weapons. The easy accessibility of illicit small arms and light weapons, along with an inherent lack of stability of the government has further facilitated illicit coltan mining. The worst part is none of these armed rebel groups are motivated by political standards – they are in it just for the money. The mineral is mined illegally in Congo, and then either sold to big corporate electronics suppliers at a huge humanitarian and economic cost, or smuggled to neighbouring states.

As warring armed groups from DRC and the neighbouring states fight for commercial control of these coltan mines, a self financed resource war predominantly motivated by monetary gain, keeps destroying more lives and pushes people into oppression. Civilians are often forced against their will to work in coltan mines, receiving extremely low wages as armed militias rake in large profits. Add to the severe human rights abuse and violence the workers are subjected to by the armed rebels. Apart from over a dozen armed groups competing for Congo’s coltan, corrupt officials as well as factions from state armies also carry out mass murders, looting and forcibly recruit child soldiers. There are countless cases of sexual violence funded by coltan operations and facilitated by the easy availability of arms. Armed groups use sexual abuse and violence as a means to humiliate and appal entire communities to the point where they can be easily controlled and exploited as cheap labour.

A report by the United Nations found that all factions and groups involved in the war raging in Congo are also involved in mining and selling coltan. The report further added that such groups were deriving a major portion of their finances from ‘highly organized and systematic exploitation’ of miners and coltan reserves in Congo.

What You Can Do?

We could very well say that somebody was coerced, extorted or maybe even killed to get the minerals that were used for manufacturing your new mobile phone. Profits from the mining and sale of Coltan are spent directly on equipping and funding both sides involved in the Congo conflict – thereby extending the war. In fact, according to UN analysts, Coltan exploitation along with oil, are the primary reasons for the continuing war in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

So what can one do to put a stop to this madness! What can you do to stop fuelling this bloodlust for coltan! Recycling e-waste and reclaiming reusable minerals like coltan can provide a solution for illegal coltan mining and the associated violence and human rights abuse. Read more about this in our next post Blood Mobiles & Conflict Minerals – II