DON’T BE A PUNK !

RECYCLE YOUR JUNK

ISA COLLABORATIVE PROJECT

COUNTRIES OF STUDY : INDIA , BANGLADESH , SRILANKA & AUSTRALIA

When you bought that new phone last week, what did you do with your old beat up phone? Or
that old TV you replaced because you bought a new LCD TV to save on electricity? These
and other discarded electrical equipment are a new and emerging issue around the globe called
Waste Electronic and Electrical Equipment (WEEE) or ‘electronic waste’. Abstract—
Electrical and Electronic wastes (e-waste) are created due to the rapid increase of technology
and economic activities in developed and developing countries in the world. This creates a
new environmental challenge called e-waste management. There should be a special collection
system, and a management option to handle them properly for a sustainable development.
However, presently, in this article we will find the volume of e-waste produced in India, Sri
Lanka Bangladesh and Australia.

INDIA : Electronic waste is emerging as a serious public health and environmental issue in
India. India is the "fifth largest electronic waste producer in the world"; approximately 2
million tons of e-waste are generated annually and an undisclosed amount of e-waste is
imported from other countries around the world

Discarded electronic waste.

Annually, computer devices account for nearly 70% of e-waste, 12% comes from the telecom
sector, 8% from medical equipment and 7% from electric equipment. The government,
public sector companies, and private sector companies generate nearly 75% of electronic
waste, with the contribution of individual household being only 16%

E-waste is a popular, informal name for electronic products nearing the end of their "useful
life." Computers, televisions, VCRs, stereos, copiers, and fax machines are common electronic
products. Many of these products can be reused, refurbished, or recycled. There is an
upgradation done to this E-waste garbage list which includes gadgets like smartphone, tablets,
laptops, video game consoles, cameras and many more. India had 1.012 billion active mobile
connections in January 2018. Every year the number is growing exponentially.

According to ASSOCHAM, an industrial body in India the, Compound Annual Growth

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Rate(CAGR) of electronic waste is 30%. With changing consumer behavior and rapid
economic growth, ASSOCHAM estimates that India will generate 5.2 million tonnes of ewaste
by 2020.

In India, the amount of e-waste generated differs by state. The three states that produce the
most e-waste are as follows: Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. Other states that
produce significant e-waste are Uttar Pradesh, West
Bengal, Delhi, Karnataka, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Punjab.

SRILANKA : Here’s an example to understand the scale of the problem, according to

estimates by Ceylon Waste Management (2018) there are 7.6 Million CRT TVs and Monitors
in Sri Lanka, and only 10% of that will be properly disposed. The remaining 90% will be
around 67500 metric tons of CRTs, of which 8840 tons will be lead and 110 tons of arsenic.
That’s a massive amount of poison that could leach into our ecosystem endangering both
human and animal lives. Other methods must be employed to dispose of this waste. According
to a report by Ms. Samanthi Bandara at the Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka back in
2012
“One such registered electronic waste recycling factory in Sri Lanka, which recycles all types
of electronic waste (except CFL and tube bulbs), was able to recover 35,724 kg of plastic,
58,526 kg of metal, 83,358 kg of glass out of the total electronic waste collection of 177,609
kg in 2012. Furthermore, out of the total quantity of metal, around 6,368 kg of complex metal
were exported for refinement to the world’s largest precious metal refinery. In addition, they
earned foreign currency by trading the extracted gold, silver, palladium, and copper in the
London Bullion Market (LBM) and London Metal Exchange (LME). The rest of the materials
were sold to different companies in the country, which reuse these materials for a variety of
products. ”

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As forecasted generation of the electronic waste by the year 2020 as compared

with the electronic waste generated during the period from the year 2010 to

the year 2015 is given in the following diagram.

Accordingly, the above diagram indicates the possibility of the generation of

1,000,000 metric tons approximately and added to the environment by the year

2020. As such, it was observed that the process of the Electronic Waste

Management in operation is grossly inadequate.

BANGLADESH : Bangladesh has been extracting valuable elements such as copper and gold
from electronic waste, mostly known as e-waste. This has proven a good source of income for
the country.
The annual generation of e-waste, which can be extremely hazardous for both the human body
and environment, stands at 400,000 metric tons.
The e-waste generation has been rising at an alarming rate of 20% and can create a disastrous
situation if proper recycling initiatives are not adopted, said a report by Bangladesh University
of Engineering and Technology (Buet).

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According to the report, only 3% of the total generated waste has been going to recyclers,
while the rest has gone to landfills.
If the current growth rate continues, the estimated e-waste amount will reach 462,000 tons per
year, by 2035. In 2016, the amount was only 310,000 tons.
AUSTRALIA : In Australia, old TVs, fridge, white goods, computer hardware, and phones
usually find their way to landfill. What’s worse is these electronics are made with plastics,
glass, and precious metals that can be recycled.

Here are the statistics on Australia’s electronic waste:

• 700,000 tonnes of e-waste is made in Australia.

• 90% of electronic waste don’t have a dedicated recycling program,
• The average Australian family generates 1.4 tonnes of electronic waste over 10 years. This
includes monitors, batteries, printers and more.
• Around 11,000 tonnes of batteries end up in landfill every year and only 3% of batteries
are recycled in Australia. Over time, the chemicals in these batteries leak out and are toxic
to the environment, potentially harming wildlife and affecting surrounding soil or
waterways.
• Aussies replace their mobile and smart phones every 18-24 months on average.
• There are over 25 million unused phones in Australia. If we lined up all our unused phones,
they’d stretch further than the distance between Sydney and Perth.
• Currently in Australia we only recycle 10% of our mobile phones. Most Australians don’t
even know how to recycle their phone.
• Fun fact – A collection of 50,000 phones can contain up to 1 KG of gold!

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