E-Waste: Earth's New Enemy

Can you remember the time when you brought your first television set, your first radio, your first computer, or your first cell phone? These electronic devices have become a household mainstay. Families used to have only one TV set, but these days, it's quite common to see a household owning two or more. Too much of anything has its own price, and we now face a huge amount of old, outdated or end-of-life electronics. Once we get rid of them, they become electronic waste, or e-waste.

In the past, landfills became the gravesites of these new forms of garbage and it seemed okay, but years later, they started to resurface to become Earth's greatest nemesis of the modern age. E-waste is now one of the major contributors to land, air and water poisoning.

While we pamper ourselves with these electrical and wired conveniences, we are slowly damaging the Earth. Electronic devices by themselves are not harmful; it's what inside them that are. Of late, the amount of e-waste discarded worldwide has increased exponentially, reaching 20 to 50 million tons every year and counting. Hundreds of thousands of old computer monitors, TVs and cell phones are dumped in landfills or burned in industrial plants for smelting. While some amount is donated to developing countries, thousands of electronic devices are illegally exported to Asia for illegal and potentially dangerous scrapping.

Producing these electronic marvels requires metal, plastic, and certain hazardous substances. When dumped in landfills, these toxic chemicals can seep into the soil and waterways, or be released into the air. Ultimately, the environment and the people nearby are affected. Incineration, another way to get rid of e-waste, releases heavy metals into the atmosphere (lead, mercury and cadmium). Burning products with PVC plastic can discharge highly toxic dioxins and furans while brominated flame retardants (BFRs) release brominated dioxins and furans.

E-waste is not like any other garbage, and even if we recycle, the process is quite different from other materials. Electronic gadgets contain poisonous chemicals and compounds that harm both living things and the Earth. Television sets and computer monitors comprise a majority of these e-wastes due to the poisonous metals they contain, like zinc and arsenic. Batteries contain mercury and lithium, and motherboards and computer chips also contain a smothering of toxic metals and compounds. Even CDs and DVDs need to be disposed of properly, considering the large volume of its production today.

E-waste that can't be recycled need to be disposed of properly or we risk letting loose their harmful effects like radiation. The speed at which technology advances also contributes to the fast rise of these electronic hazards and ways to manage the waste needs to be just as fast.

Special programs have been developed to educate everyone on proper disposal procedures of e-waste. Many companies that produce electronics have taken responsibility in the recycling and disposal of their products. Special care and handling is necessary, and safety must take priority. These inventions were meant to make our modern lives more comfortable, but ignorance of the harm they can do may reverse that. Be educated. Enjoy your gadgets, but dispose of them properly.