By the time you get your hands on the newest phone model you’ve always wanted, a faster, smaller and perhaps even cheaper version comes out of the pipeline.
Such is the blistering pace of today’s advances in technology that any product becomes obsolete in a matter of months.
The accelerating rate of replacement, however, has resulted in a serious problem that is growing in magnitude—the proliferation of electronic waste worldwide.
According to data from the International Environmental Technology Center of the United Nations Environment Program, an estimated 50 million tons of e-waste are produced every year.
Electronic waste or waste of electrical and electronic equipment refers to discarded computers, office electronic equipment, entertainment device electronics, mobile phones, television sets and refrigerators.
In a briefing in Pattaya, Thailand, organized by Fuji Xerox, UNEP Asia Pacific regional director Dr. Park Young-Woo said that the volume of e-waste is increasing by a massive 40 percent a year worldwide, equivalent to about 15 tons a year, about 80 percent of which end up in landfills and incinerators.
According to UNEP, e-waste is the fastest-growing type of waste, particularly in some developing countries where the volume is expected to grow by up to 500 percent over the next decade.
Dr. Park said about half of the current annual volume is coming from Asia Pacific because of the growing population as well as affluence of citizens, which means greater demand for the latest mobile phones, refrigerators, television sets, tablets and office equipment.
The growing volume of e-waste is a cause for great concern because it contains hazardous materials such as lead, mercury, arsenic, cadmium, selenium and hexavalent chromium that pose a serious threat to human health.
Source: Inquirer.net