Note: Article adapted from here.
The rampant increase of electronic waste has created a substantial amount of harm to the health of our populations and the environment. Our devices pileup and form mountains of toxic residue, securing this waste stream's place as the world's fastest growing. An increase of a mammoth 2.5 million tonnes of our electronic waste yearly can be attributed to the shrinking life spans of devices and lack of incentives to repair. 53.6 million tonnes of electronic waste was generated in 2019 alone; this alarming figure is the equivalent of 7.3 kilograms of waste per person. As technology becomes more widespread and affordable, this number is set to skyrocket to a whopping 74.7 million tonnes by 2030. This rapid acceleration in demand is outpacing our capacity for the safe disposal and recycling of electronic waste. In 2019, only a mere 17.4% of all our electronic waste was recycled. The level of undocumented electronic waste has also been rising at unprecedented rates. Where did the bulk of our electronic waste go? 82.6% is a significant proportion to be unsure of, especially when considering the weight of the consequences that follow.
High income countries have been notoriously known to send the majority of their electronic waste to developing countries where the regulations for safe disposal and recycling are lax. This informal management has led to an unreliable system whereby the toxic substances like mercury, brominated flame retardants, chlorofluorocarbons and hydrochlorofluorocarbons contained in the devices are exposed to the environment. Our soil is no longer arable, and our sources of water left undrinkable. The mountains of electronic waste also contribute significantly to the greenhouse effect. The neighbouring flora and fauna suffer years of harm consuming toxins and the ecosystem, as a whole, pays a hefty price. The people who work in the scrap yards also face severe health risks. A colossal 50 tonnes of mercury is released by electronic waste, prolonged exposure to the chemical has been linked to brain damage. Despite the risks, the workers continue to earn their livelihoods on these tumultuous scrapyards. The toxins aside, electronic waste also consists of valuable metals like gold, silver, copper and platinum. These recycled metals are worth approximately US$57 billion, a larger sum than the GDP of many nations. However, given that a miniscule portion of electronic waste is recycled, only US$10 billion of the value had been recovered in 2019.
The world is finally becoming more cognisant of the growing issue at hand. As of recently, 78 countries, amassing 71% of the global population, had either implemented regulations or were in the midst of processing legislation. Although, for many countries, despite having policies in place, enforcement is still lacking and rarely enforced. As of 2014, the amount of electronic waste recycled has grown by 1.8 million tonnes each year, subsequently the total amount of electronic waste has increased at a much more heightened rate of 9.2 million tonnes each year. This discrepancy is much too high for our environment to endure. A sustainable solution is our only hope for a greener future.
There is a need to support the creation of a circular economy and sustainable societies when recycling e-waste. Clean Urban Mining, part of the Clean Earth Technologies Group, has developed an alternative process that completely eliminates the use of toxic cyanide in the traditional process of extracting precious metals from e-waste. Replacing the harmful chemical with a non-toxic gold recovery reagent ensures that the health of our populations and the environment remain safe.