There is almost no home without it. You see them lying in a corner of drawers, warehouses, or kitchen cabinets, tangled up and gathering dust, waiting for their final fate to go to the trash can. It is the remnants of old electronic devices.
This electronic waste has become a dangerous phenomenon, as it is increasing greatly in quantity, and if you want to imagine the amount of electronic waste left by each person annually, think about how many times you changed your mobile phone, laptop, tablet, TV device, etc. a year ago from now on. What about the rest of your family, friends and neighbors? Have you ever thought about the fate of the old device that you get rid of?
As the famous proverb says, "What is far from the eye is far from the heart." That is why you rarely find anyone thinking about the fate of the waste and trash that they get rid of the moment they leave their door, but just because the trash has disappeared from your sight does not mean that it has disappeared from existence. When you dispose of your computer or mobile phone, it goes to a landfill where there are tons of mountains of waste waiting to be burned and disposed of.
45 billion kilograms, or 50 million tons, is the amount of electronic waste that humans produce annually, and this number is expected to double in the next two years. According to the statistics of one of the companies responsible for re-manufacturing in the country, in 2004 alone, about 315 million personal computers became unusable, and 850 million mobile phones were produced in 2005. The International Federation of Mobile Telephone Operators stated that the number of subscriptions to telephone lines Mobile phones will increase globally from 3.9 billion in 2008 to 5.6 billion in 2013.
The reasons for this increase in consumption are due to the short life span of the device, for example, while the default life of the computer in 1997 was up to seven years, it is now no more than three years. This short life span is a result of the development of technology, which makes manufacturers able to increase the speed of devices every 18 months, to replace them with newer ones, as the consumer desires to get the latest and fastest as possible. However, these manufacturers also have a role in increasing waste, as some of them make devices that are easy to break and are unable to resist shocks, and if they are damaged, repairing them is difficult and expensive, and it is difficult to find repair parts for them, so the consumer finds it easier to throw away the old Jazz and replace it with a new one, to end up with the old device in one of the mountains of waste, to burn it with other waste.
However, burning an electronic device is an environmental disaster in and of itself. Mustafa Nassar, Director of Business Development at WMS Metal Industries, says, "The materials used in the manufacture of electronics contain many heavy metals and toxic substances that are extremely harmful to health and the environment. This waste is very different from ordinary waste because it contains materials such as mercury, lead, And arsenic, and when e-waste is disposed of improperly, it produces very toxic substances.”
Athaiba Al-Qaidi, Director of the Chemicals and Hazardous Waste Department at the Ministry of Environment and Water, adds, "The first affected by electronic waste is the human being, then comes the other elements in the environment such as air, water, and soil, where metals, plastics, and toxic chemicals that make up the devices accumulate." Electronic circuit boards, glass tubes, wires, resistors, and other internal devices, in addition to containing heavy metals, including mercury, cadmium, and tin, which pollute groundwater and classify them as hazardous wastes that are prohibited from being imported into the country according to Federal Law No. 24 of 1999 regarding environmental protection and development. ".
For example, computer and television screens contain up to 3.6 kilograms of lead, which affects the blood and IQ of children if they are exposed to it if one of the devices is broken. Flat screens contain mercury, which may harm the nervous system. This also includes batteries of all kinds, which are prohibited from being thrown into the trash because of the toxic effects of the lithium used in their manufacture on the environment. According to an Australian study on e-waste, it was found that it constitutes the largest part of the groundwater pollution in California and Japan, which made them take quick action by setting laws to reduce the amount of e-waste.
Although we do not feel the direct effects of e-waste on us, there are cities in some developing countries that have become almost buried under millions of tons of e-waste that they receive from first world countries, such as Lagos in Nigeria, which receives monthly 500 tanks and containers with a load equivalent to The size of 400,000 computer monitors or 175,000 large televisions. Mr. Mostafa Nassar says, "The process of exporting waste to some developing countries to extract the precious metals that are used in their manufacture may seem attractive because it is a cheap and profitable way.
However, in this process, the waste is disposed of in an incorrect way.” The people of these cities live by dismantling electronic waste to extract precious metals used in manufacturing, such as gold, copper, and silver. The toxic substances emitted from them are then thrown into the waterways and near the soil, so that nature becomes polluted and the population becomes vulnerable to cancer and congenital malformations due to the radiation emitted from the materials mentioned above.
If the individual continues to consume electronic devices without awareness of their harm to the environment, this only means the accumulation of millions of additional tons of waste every year. This means more damage to health and the environment. Eng. Azaiba Al-Qaidi recommends that the consumer take into account “choosing electronic devices that are least harmful to the environment, not randomly disposing of this waste, and cooperating with the competent authorities in the proper disposal of this waste. The Ministry carries out many programs and activities to reduce the negative impact of electronic waste, in coordination and cooperation with the concerned authorities. .” In addition, she recommended economy and taking into account the environment when using the consumption of electronic devices, so that we are keen to use the device until the end of its life span, and we try to reduce the purchase of devices that we do not need, and strive to repair broken electronic devices without getting rid of them and replacing them as possible.
On the other hand, the best solution for dealing with e-waste is to recycle it in the right way so that toxic materials are extracted and prevented from mixing with the environment, and some materials such as plastic and glass, and other precious materials such as gold and silver, are reused. In the UAE, there are many private and governmental initiatives that seek to promote the recycling of electronic materials, in addition to the spread of garbage containers designated for recycling in many public and private ports in the Emirates. She adds to Engineer Athaiba Al-Qaidi, "The Ministry is currently studying the current situation of electronic waste and developing regulatory legislation for its circulation in the country with the aim of limiting its damage to the environment and ensuring a sustainable environment for life. While the Ministry worked on a mobile phone recycling project that aims to collect and properly dispose of electronic waste." Mobile phones in the country, and coordination has been made with companies specialized in this field, and offers are currently being evaluated to choose the company and start implementing the project.”
Recycling not only brings benefits to the environment and health by reducing the amount of waste and preventing unhealthy methods of disposal, but also saves a lot of space from being lost in landfilling and waste collection. According to the Abu Dhabi Center for Waste Management, Abu Dhabi loses two million square meters of land annually, as a result of converting it into landfills.
Also, recycling brings a lot of material profits, first, because recycling electronics helps extract gold, silver, and copper used in their manufacture. Recycling 25 tons of mobile phones, for example, yields ten kilograms of gold, with a value of more than three hundred thousand dollars. Re-extracting these mineral resources, which cost a lot to extract, will bring financial benefits. In addition, the reuse of plastic and glass by manufacturers and others will save a lot of money that was spent on purchasing new raw materials and processing them to make them suitable for use. According to the Abu Dhabi Center for Waste Management, the national economy loses 1.5 billion dirhams annually, as a result of not recycling and recycling waste.