E-Waste Recycling: A Welcoming Change

1. Introduction

Unfortunately, the world is hit by the concern of a surge in solid waste. Among them, e-waste has been a crucial concern for the authorities worldwide. The figures have reached 53.6 million metric tons which has alarmed the world together. Sadly, 83 percent of it is not taken care which has impacted the global economy (World Health Organisation, 2023). While surrendering the e-products there must be adequate rules that promote the recycling practice among the public (Smieja et al., 2023). Since e-waste comprises useable and efficient resources it is required that it can be utilized for useful purposes. The United Nations has demarcated that there will extensive rise expected by 2050. The recycling engagement has only reached 17 percent till now which predicts an irreparable loss to the earth. Emerging nations have engaged informal individuals as their workers to extract valuable material. This reflects that not only the environment is at stake but also the people involved in extracting valuable items that are dumped by the public (United Nations Environment Protection, 2022). The global per capita e-waste generation has jumped to a larger extent. Among them, e-waste classification and category have been introduced. Small as well as larger equipment and temperature-restricted equipment promote such activities. Europe is well known for generating e-waste per capita which is further followed by Oceania nations (Mohan et al., 2022; Liu et al., 2023). Currently, the dumping areas comprise small electronic and electrical appliances as well as consumer electronic products, which require proper supervision for recycling purposes (Liu et al., 2023).

However, there is a necessity to have effective e-waste management systems in the nations that are exposed to this risky business. The global e-waste monitor has drawn concern that discarded items are estimated to be 74Mt in coming years. This shows that due to a shortage of repair options and a short lifeline of the e-products, their quantity will be much larger. Although the value obtained through recoverable items can be a huge capital despite that emphasis is not made on collecting them they are dumped and sometimes burned. The opportunity of reusing and treatment is not provided in many developing nations. Due to the absence of proper implementation of rules, several nations have engaged informal workers for extracting business (Mohan et al., 2022; Forti et al., 2020). This has resulted in a hazardous impact on the health of these workers in these countries. Safeguarding the earth and individuals connected to it requires effective implementation of international guidelines which should be obeyed despite having international instruments (WHO, 2023). To have clarity about e-waste and its management there is a requirement to create awareness about greener practices and proper disposal for prevailing environment-friendly e-waste management system.

Globally many electrical and electronic devices are left aside and are broken into pieces and have been dumped. They are under the ambit of e-waste which has brought damage to the habitats when they are not treated and disposed of properly. There is a need to encourage recycling practices initiatives have been made to turn electronic appliances into reusable equipment (WHO, 2023). Due to improper disposal of e-waste, there has been a surge in health and environmental crisis. For instance, metals such as lead have been commonly used in electronic products which have badly impacted the soil. The concern is to be made on how these metals should be reused without causing any dangerous influence on the environment (Tsydenova & Bengtsson, 2011).