E-waste – Factors Contributing to Its Spike, Possible Consequences, and Solutions

It’s time to face some hard facts since the situation is getting dire now. The complexity of our generation to have the latest device in their hands is coming at a hefty environmental cost. Although it becomes irresistible to refrain from getting your hands on the newest iPhone model yet, it’s imperative that we understand what hazardous circumstances it is going to bring us in the long run.

In a nutshell, us spending most of our income to have the cutting edge devices not only hurts our budget but our environment too since the old devices that we switch go directly to waste, which we call the e-waste.

In this article, I’m going to be talking deeply about how technology has made us its parasites and what future consequences we are unaware of – mainly the chances of our e-waste systems exhausting out.

Advance consumer electronics and our dependency on them

From waking up in the morning to going back to bed at night, it’s our phones that help us navigate in the appropriate manner.

Let’s consider this one simple example; on waking up in the morning and not finding our phone under our pillow or right on our side table, the immediate mini heart attack we get explains pretty much how we can’t even imagine starting our day without its help.

From meeting reminders to finding the best route towards our destination, these pocket-size devices help us be more productive and less conventional.

All in all, regardless of the fact that what age group you belong to, these smart devices will definitely have something in store for you.

If you’re a student, they’ll have all the books in one place for you, eliminating the need to carry the hard and heavy copies; if you’re a workaholic, it’ll have all your files and important data in one place, just a click away.

Now all of this sounds quite convenient, which might distract you from the actual cause that I’m trying to conduct here – its downsides.

Apart from our dependency on these e-means of bringing convenience to our lives, it’s the inevitable chances of the e-waste systems becoming unable to keep up with our speed of discarding the used gadgets.

I mean, just imagine 1000 laptops being thrown into trash every sec! – That equates to the figure of 50 million tons of e-waste generated annually.

Factors contributing to the rise in e-waste production

To know how to lower the rate of increasing e-waste production, we need to understand what are the driving factors behind its spike in the first place.

1.   Social Trends

Apart from other empirical factors that hold the importance of their own, I find this factor one of the major causes as to why e-waste production is rising with the passage of time.

Man is a social animal and is undoubtedly driven by the trends of its surrounding or society. Let me quote a simple example here in relevance to that.

Apple launches a new phone almost every year, and despite the fact you have the latest model, you’ll have the urge to switch over to the recent one. Even the co-founder and chief operating officer of ERI, Aaron Blum, approves of it.

Why? Because everyone around you will be talking and flexing about it.

This makes your old phone eventually useless, and it consequently ends up in the trash and then in e-waste management factories.

2.   Improper Recycling Methods

Hardly half of a quarter of e-waste produced (in the US alone) is properly recycled, as per UN states. This is very concerning. It shows that other toxic e-waste elements are polluting our environment. This happens because we do not know about effective e-waste recycling methods.

Many states in America have laws against throwing away electronics. In fact, more than 19 states have these laws. However, many people still throw their old devices in the trash. This is also because the regulatory authorities are not paying much attention to their roles. They should make sure people do not throw away their e-waste like that.

3.   Companies Producing Devices that become Obsolete in no time

Unlike devices made in the 1960s and 1970s, recent inventions do not last as long. This forces users to choose newer models.

For example, companies make phones and laptops with non-replaceable batteries. This means that when your device stops holding a charge, you have to buy a new one.

Similarly, the latest models of PCs and Laptops are not well-suited with old types of cables, and so on.

Finally, continuous software updates are a key reason why consumers switch devices. The latest versions often do not work with older devices.

4.   Leaner devices are difficult to reuse

We all are fond of lean devices. The more lean your phone or laptop is, the more you’re attracted to buy it. The reason can be them being more portable or merely appearing more aesthetically classy.

Unfortunately, these devices are hard to reuse or recycle. Their tiny parts are glued together tightly. This makes it nearly impossible to open them for repair. As a result, people often throw them away and buy new ones.

These extra-smart smartphones often have non-replaceable lithium batteries. Trying to recycle these batteries can cause dangerous fires.

Wrap Up – How to play your role in lowering E-waste?

Now that we have talked about the reasons for the rise in e-waste, we should focus on how we can help reduce it.

We can make a big change by doing some simple things. Reuse your products more often. Look for eco-friendly labels on what you buy. Teach your kids about e-waste. Dispose of your old electronic devices responsibly.

Instead of just flowing with trends, try to make decisions about buying new e-gadgets with logic and according to your needs.

For example, if your phone is working perfectly alright, use it until it becomes unusable. Do not just rush to buy the newest model to become a part of the race.

References

• https://www.intechopen.com/chapters/49247#B1
• https://www.researchgate.net/publication/308730173_Factors_Affecting_e-Waste_Management_An_Interpretive_Structural_Modeling_Approach
• https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214999614003208
• https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/press-release/un-report-time-seize-opportunity-tackle-challenge-e-waste
• https://www.ewaste1.com/how-to-reduce-e-waste/
• https://theconversation.com/consumer-electronics-have-changed-a-lot-in-20-years-systems-for-managing-e-waste-arent-keeping-up-147972
• https://time.com/5594380/world-electronic-waste-problem/

Written by The Original PC Doctor on 20/12/2021.