E-Waste: A Detriment to Our Landfills and Water
By: Josephine Belden
Image Credit: Geneva Environmental Network, https://www.genevaenvironmentnetwork.org/resources/updates/the-growing-environmental-risks-of-e-waste/
Every year, millions of electronic devices and electrical materials are thrown away. These discarded items are considered e-waste, and can become a major threat to public safety and the environment if not recycled properly. An estimated 60 million metric tons of e-waste end up in landfills every year, which is a major cause for concern. The most common e-waste items include computers, household appliances, mobile phones, as well as medical equipment. When e-waste is not discarded correctly, such as being stored in houses and warehouses, it can release up to 1000 different chemical substances. An example of these substances is lead, which is a neurotoxin. Many of the toxic materials e-waste contains are known to cause harm to human health, ranging from dioxins to mercury. In 2022, less than a quarter of e-waste produced was correctly recycled. People living in low and middle income countries, specifically children, face the most risks regarding e-waste due to a lack of regulations and enforcements. Commonly, this waste is illegally transported from one country to another, and less developed countries often lack regulations targeting this problem.
When e-waste gets buried in a landfill, it can dissolve in microscopic traces into sludge present at the landfill. These traces of toxic materials sink into the ground below, a process known as leaching. The more this process occurs, the more toxic materials show up in groundwater. The major issue regarding e-waste is that there is so much of it that toxic water in landfills commonly spreads to all of the freshwater in the surrounding area. This is not only bad for those drinking natural water, but it is also harmful to the nearby wildlife populations. These populations then become at risk of getting sick from lead, cadmium, arsenic, or other metal poisonings present in the water.
E-waste is not biodegradable and it accumulates in environmental sectors such as the soil, air, water, and living things. For example, open-air burning and acid baths release toxic materials into the environment, also exposing workers to high levels of contaminants. These contaminants can lead to irreversible health effects, ranging from cancers to neurological damage to miscarriages. Even though metals in e-waste are extremely difficult to extract, these materials are in great demand because recycled metals are two to ten times more energy efficient than metals directly from virgin ore. By mining discarded electronics, 80% less emissions of carbon dioxide are released compared to mining these metals from the ground. E-waste also has major effects on climate change. Every device being produced has its own carbon footprint, which contributes to human-made global warming. The longer each device’s lifetime is, the greater its carbon dioxide emissions are.
Fortunately, there are proven solutions regarding the problem of e-waste. The recycling of e-waste serves many useful purposes, including protecting environmental and human health by ensuring they don't reach landfills. Another approach is recovering the parts within the devices that still hold value. These parts can be sent to manufacturers along with recycled metals to ultimately be used to make new products. Most e-waste contains some type of recyclable material, including plastic, glass, and metals. These materials are often considered junk, but serve an essential purpose. However, global recycling rates are low. In the EU alone, only around 35% of e-waste is properly collected and recycled. The global average for e-waste recycling is only about 20%, with much of the remaining 80% being buried under the ground and staying there for centuries.
The issue of hazardous waste was first addressed by Congress in 1976 with the passing of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. This act aimed to set the standard for protecting human and environmental health in regards to the potential hazards of waste disposal. Since the passing of this act, the e-waste recycling industry has grown massively around the world. The industry has created countless proven ways of keeping e-waste out of landfills or from being burned. These solutions include focusing on taking reusable parts from devices and recycling them for the benefit of local businesses. The process of recycling the electronics we no longer use has created hundreds of thousands of jobs around the world, and the numbers keep growing.
Although e-waste is a significant problem in today's world, it is not frequently mentioned. It not only causes the acceleration of climate change, but also poses major risks to human and environmental health. The choices we make can have a positive impact on this issue if we choose to actively live our lives in a way that is less environmentally damaging.
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