Electronic Waste or E-Waste

Have you ever given a thought what happens when you throw or sell your old cell phone or personal computer? Where does it go? And how it affects the atmosphere? Electronic waste or e-waste are those electrical and electronic items that are no longer usable or have been replaced by the new generation version. Computers, cell phones, televisions, refrigerators, air conditioners, DVDs, iPods, copiers, and fax machines are common electronic products, which eventually turn to e-wastes. According to researchers nearly 75 percent of old electronic products are dumped in storage because of the uncertainty of how to manage these materials. Although many of these materials can be reused, refurbished, or recycled but unfortunately they are not, thus making the electronic discards as one of the fastest growing segments of worlds waste stream.

With the growth of technology many new companies are stepping in the market with new and/or new versions of the products like laptops, computers, cell phones, televisions, music players etc. Disposal of computers and cell phones is the major segment of electronic waste. As technology improves the lifespan for electronic devices such as computers and cell phones becomes shorter. In developed countries these electronics have an average life span of two years. In the Unites States there are more than 300 million obsolete computers. Although most electronic devices that are thrown away still have parts that are reusable. CURRENT SCENARIO:Rapid product innovations and replacement especially in IT sector combined with migration from analogue to digital techniques have together shifted us to the electronic world. The growing economies of the world have given way to lower prices for many electronic goods which has in turn increased global demand for these goods. Increasing production of new electronic goods put the old electronic products into store labeling them e-waste.People are upgrading their computers, cell phones, televisions, audio players and printers more frequently than ever before. Presently cell phones and computers are causing the biggest problem because they are replaced most often. That is the number of discarded electrical and electronic waste is piling up to millions. Electronics waste now makes up five percent of total municipal solid waste worldwide which is almost equal to the waste of all plastic packaging material. Not only developed countries but the developing countries also have its share in the production of E-Waste. According to the reports, Asia discards an estimated 12 million tons of E-Waste each year. While the electronic waste stream has increased dramatically in the last 10 years; efforts to regulate or recycle them are being developed at a much slower pace.

A recent report by United Nations predicts that by 2020 e-waste from old computers in South Africa and China will have jumped by 200400 % and by 500 % in India compared to 2007 levels. It also states that by 2020 e-waste from discarded cell phones will be increased to 7 times than 2007 in China and 18 times in India. This report also mentions that in the United States more than 150 million mobiles and pagers were sold in 2008, up from 90 million five years before, and globally more than 1 billion mobile phones were sold in 2007, up from 896 million in 2006. The UN report estimates that countries like Senegal and Uganda can expect e-waste flows from personal computers alone to increase 4 to 8-fold by 2020.HELP SOLVE THE E-WASTE PROBLEM:Solving the e-waste problem starts with education, and habit changes as a result of knowledge. Most people are trained to recycle a newspaper, bottles, and cans. Almost anything electronic in nature can be recycled properly with effort. Some municipalities have transfer stations that accept e-waste, and of course, Electronix Redux accepts e-waste for recycling. It is important that any e-waste processor is fully certified in safe destruction and follow certified documented procedures to safely dispose of electronic waste. Ask questions before you recycle! Some unscrupulous recyclers ship e-waste overseas where it is disposed of improperly, posing a threat to the environment and its' people.RECYCLING TECHNOLOGIES:HAZARDOUS TECHNOLOGIES:

IncinerationIncineration is the process of destroying waste through burning. Because of the variety of substances found in e-waste, incineration is associated with a major risk of generating and dispersing contaminants and toxic substances. The gases released during the burning and the residue ash is often toxic. This is especially true for incineration or co-incineration of e-waste with neither prior treatment nor sophisticated flue gas purification. Studies of municipal solid waste incineration plants have shown that copper, which is present in printed circuit boards and cables, acts a catalyst for dioxin formation when flame-retardants are incinerated. These brominated flame retardants when exposed to low temperature (600-800C) can lead to the generation of extremely toxic polybrominated dioxins (PBDDs) and furans (PBDFs). PVC, which can be found in e-waste in significant amounts, is highly corrosive when burnt and also induces the formation of dioxins.

Incineration also leads to the loss valuable of trace elements which could have been recovered had they been sorted and processed separately.

Open BurningSince open fires burn at relatively low temperatures, they release many more pollutants than in a controlled incineration process at an MSWI-plant. Inhalation of open fire emissions can trigger asthma attacks, respiratory infections, and cause other problems such as coughing, wheezing, chest pain, and eye irritation. Chronic exposure to open fire emissions may lead to diseases such as emphysema and cancer. For example, burning PVC releases hydrogen chloride, which on inhalation mixes with water in the lungs to form hydrochloric acid. This can lead to corrosion of the lung tissues, and several respiratory complications. Often open fires burn with a lack of oxygen, forming carbon monoxide, which poisons the blood when inhaled. The residual particulate matter in the form of ash is prone to fly around in the vicinity and can also be dangerous when inhaled.

Landfilling

Landfilling is one of the most widely used methods of waste disposal. However, it is common knowledge that all landfills leak. The leachate often contains heavy metals and other toxic substances which can contaminate ground and water resources. Even state-of-the-art landfills which are sealed to prevent toxins from entering the ground are not completely tight in the long-term. Older landfill sites and uncontrolled dumps pose a much greater danger of releasing hazardous emissions.

Mercury, Cadmium and Lead are among the most toxic leachates. Mercury, for example, will leach when certain electronic devices such as circuit breakers are destroyed. Lead has been found to leach from broken lead-containing glass, such as the cone glass of cathode ray tubes from TVs and monitors. When brominated flame retarded plastics or plastics containing cadmium are landfilled, both PBDE and cadmium may leach into soil and groundwater. Similarly, landfilled condersers emit hazardous PCB's.

Besides leaching, vaporisation is also of concern in landfills. For example, volatile compounds such as mercury or a frequent modification of it, dimethylene mercury can be released. In addition, landfills are also prone to uncontrolled fires which can release toxic fumes.

Significant impacts from landfilling could be avoided by conditioning hazardous materials from e-waste separately and by landfilling only those fractions for which there are no further recycling possibilities and ensure that they are in state-of-the-art landfills that respect environmentally sound technical standards.State-of-the-art Recycling Technologies

The state-of-the-art recycling of e-waste comprises three steps:DetoxicationThe first step in the recycling process is the removal of critical components from the e-waste in order to avoid dilution of and / or contamination with toxic substances during the downstream processes. Critical components include, e.g., lead glass from CRT screens, CFC gases from refrigerators, light bulbs and batteries.ShreddingMechanical processing is the next step in e-waste treatment, normally an industrial large scale operation to obtain concentrates of recyclable materials in a dedicated fraction and also to further separate hazardous materials. Typical components of a mechanical processing plant are crushing units, shredders, magnetic- and eddy-current- and air-separators. The gas emissions are filtered and effluents are treated to minimize environmental impact.RefiningThe third step of e-waste recycling is refining. Refining of resources in e-waste is possible and the technical solutions exist to get back raw with minimal environmental impact. Most of the fractions need to be refined or conditioned in order to be sold as secondary raw materials or to be disposed of in a final disposal site, respectively. During the refining process, to three flows of materials is paid attention: Metals, plastics and glass.