Do you have old electronic equipment at home? That which is unused or no longer usable? And, is it occupying unnecessary space?
From old mobile phones to televisions, from laptops to DVD players, from headphones to gaming consoles, from CDs and video cassettes to wires and plugs, many electronic items must be lying in our houses.
Throwing them into municipal garbage bins is not a recommended option. And, sadly, there are not many e-waste collection facilities available, for us, to dispose them, safely.
So, despite our reluctance, ultimately, much of our electronic stuff might end up in a garbage heap, or in a junkyard. From there, it may go into an incinerator.
Electronic waste that goes into landfills and incinerators will not only cause environmental pollution but also extreme health hazards. Harmful diseases have been found to result from the burning of e-waste.
A great deal of scientific evidence is available today that proves - without a doubt - that unsafe e-waste disposal is a major health hazard.
And that is why we should hold the producers of electronic equipment responsible - at least partially responsible - for this nightmare they are creating in the form of newer and newer electronic gadgets.
Every enhancement in the new models of mobile phones is making old mobile phones obsolete. Every increase in speed and memory of computers is making old laptops and desktops obsolete. Every development in HD, UHD, and 3D television technology is making the old TVs obsolete. Every development in wireless technology is making all the wired technology obsolete.
Today, instead of making long-term durable electronics – on the pretext of advancing technology, and with greed for more profits – electronics product manufacturers are inundating our markets with new gadgets which are no longer compatible with old hardware. They force us to upgrade and to buy new gadgets, by deliberately reducing the product life cycles.
The TIME magazine says, “…dozens of televisions from the 1970s and 1980s have stopped working only recently. Yet instead, technology companies are speeding the pace of obsolescence. Most smartphone batteries can’t be easily replaced when they stop holding a charge, new laptops don’t accept old cables, and software companies push upgrades that won’t run on old devices. ” (The World Has an E-Waste Problem, TIME, 23 May 2019).
The main reason is this. The existing global Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) laws, which require manufacturers to establish and fund systems to recycle or collect obsolete products, are not being effectively implemented.
Recently, I found a news-item from India which said: “Premium smartphones and electronic merchandise worth 5000 crore rupees (720 million US dollars) of 10 tech companies including Apple, Samsung, Vivo, HP, and Motorola are stranded with customs after the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) suspended their import permits for not complying with e-waste rules” (Apple, Samsung in a jam with imports held up at customs, Economic Times, 12 Apr 2019).
According to the news item, the Indian government suspended the import permits of the 10 companies for violating Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) clauses. The companies had not re-collected e-waste they had promised they would.
By 2025, Singapore will have extended producer responsibility (EPR) laws in place for both packaging and electronic waste (e-waste) which will make it difficult for manufacturers to dump new products on us, without taking back some old ones.
The USA, the UK, and most European countries have already had legislation to make producers re-buy, recollect and re-use their products, for two decades now. But implementation is still a challenge.
As responsible consumers, we must push our governments to insist that producers comply with Extended Producer Responsibility laws, and show us how much e-waste the producers are taking back.
Only then can we curtail this growing e-waste problem.
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Suggested Readings:
Europe exporting electronic waste despite a ban
What will Singapore’s producer responsibility laws mean for business?
Extended Producer Responsibility: A Guidance Manual for Governments
Each U.S. Family Trashes 400 iPhones’ Worth of E-Waste a Year
Some pictures from where electronic waste is dumped:
From old mobile phones to televisions, from laptops to DVD players, from headphones to gaming consoles, from CDs and video cassettes to wires and plugs, many electronic items must be lying in our houses.
Throwing them into municipal garbage bins is not a recommended option. And, sadly, there are not many e-waste collection facilities available, for us, to dispose them, safely.
So, despite our reluctance, ultimately, much of our electronic stuff might end up in a garbage heap, or in a junkyard. From there, it may go into an incinerator.
Electronic waste that goes into landfills and incinerators will not only cause environmental pollution but also extreme health hazards. Harmful diseases have been found to result from the burning of e-waste.
A great deal of scientific evidence is available today that proves - without a doubt - that unsafe e-waste disposal is a major health hazard.
And that is why we should hold the producers of electronic equipment responsible - at least partially responsible - for this nightmare they are creating in the form of newer and newer electronic gadgets.
Every enhancement in the new models of mobile phones is making old mobile phones obsolete. Every increase in speed and memory of computers is making old laptops and desktops obsolete. Every development in HD, UHD, and 3D television technology is making the old TVs obsolete. Every development in wireless technology is making all the wired technology obsolete.
Today, instead of making long-term durable electronics – on the pretext of advancing technology, and with greed for more profits – electronics product manufacturers are inundating our markets with new gadgets which are no longer compatible with old hardware. They force us to upgrade and to buy new gadgets, by deliberately reducing the product life cycles.
The TIME magazine says, “…dozens of televisions from the 1970s and 1980s have stopped working only recently. Yet instead, technology companies are speeding the pace of obsolescence. Most smartphone batteries can’t be easily replaced when they stop holding a charge, new laptops don’t accept old cables, and software companies push upgrades that won’t run on old devices. ” (The World Has an E-Waste Problem, TIME, 23 May 2019).
The main reason is this. The existing global Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) laws, which require manufacturers to establish and fund systems to recycle or collect obsolete products, are not being effectively implemented.
Recently, I found a news-item from India which said: “Premium smartphones and electronic merchandise worth 5000 crore rupees (720 million US dollars) of 10 tech companies including Apple, Samsung, Vivo, HP, and Motorola are stranded with customs after the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) suspended their import permits for not complying with e-waste rules” (Apple, Samsung in a jam with imports held up at customs, Economic Times, 12 Apr 2019).
According to the news item, the Indian government suspended the import permits of the 10 companies for violating Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) clauses. The companies had not re-collected e-waste they had promised they would.
By 2025, Singapore will have extended producer responsibility (EPR) laws in place for both packaging and electronic waste (e-waste) which will make it difficult for manufacturers to dump new products on us, without taking back some old ones.
The USA, the UK, and most European countries have already had legislation to make producers re-buy, recollect and re-use their products, for two decades now. But implementation is still a challenge.
As responsible consumers, we must push our governments to insist that producers comply with Extended Producer Responsibility laws, and show us how much e-waste the producers are taking back.
Only then can we curtail this growing e-waste problem.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Suggested Readings:
Europe exporting electronic waste despite a ban
What will Singapore’s producer responsibility laws mean for business?
Extended Producer Responsibility: A Guidance Manual for Governments
Each U.S. Family Trashes 400 iPhones’ Worth of E-Waste a Year
Some pictures from where electronic waste is dumped:
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