E-Waste not Want not! Bob Crooks MBE CITP Chair BCS Green IT SG November 2019
E-Waste – Sobering facts
Large and growing volume
Around at least 25% of e-waste is IT related
E-WASTE – ITS GETTING WORSE…
And its growing as we move to smarter and smarter mobile devices… => 1.46 billion cell phones manufactured in 2017, expected to increase to over 1.52 billion by 2021* => An average cellphone user replaces their unit once every 18 months. => 300 million PCs in 2014 down to 260 million in 2018 *Re : https://www.statista.com/statistics/742517/global-smartphone-production-volume/
AND ITS HAZARDOUS…
From ITU and The World Counts sites… See : https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Climate-Change/Documents/2019/A-New-Circular-Vision-for-Electronics.pdf And World Counts web site : https://www.theworldcounts.com/stories/Electronic-Waste-Facts • E-waste comprises 70% of global toxic waste. • 80% of our global E-Waste is sent to landfills and incinerators potentially releasing harmful toxins • Amongst the most common electronic items containing hazardous substances are LCD desktop monitors, LCD televisions, Plasma Televisions, TVs and old computers with Cathode Ray Tube displays. • What are these hazardous substances? They include mercury, lead, arsenic, cadmium, selenium, chromium, and flame retardants, many of these being toxic
And we move it around… not me guv! See : https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Climate-Change/Documents/2019/A-New-Circular-Vision-for-Electronics.pdf And World Counts web site : https://www.theworldcounts.com/stories/Electronic-Waste-Facts => 80% of E-Waste in the US and from most other countries is transported to Asia.
How do we treat e-waste? eg Northern Realisation
Recycling process… Picking : Components removed by hand, such as batteries, UPS battery systems, toner cartridges, and fluorescent lights. Shredding : - Initial Size Reduction shredding into small 100mm size pieces, - Secondary Size Reduction step further breaks down materials into even smaller fragments preparing for separation process. Magnetic Removal: Steel and iron fragments. Metallic and Nonmetallic Separation : Using Eddy currents, optical identification, and magnets to extract other metals, such as aluminum, copper, and brass and separate from non-metallic materials, such as glass and plastic. Separation : - Plastic and glass are separated by using water². Lead-containing glass may be sent to lead smelters to be used to make new products such as batteries, new CRTs, and x-ray shields. Plastics are separated by color and sold to plastic recyclers³. - Circuit boards are ground up and smelted, the gases are captured, and the metals can be sold as raw commodities..
AND IF THERE’S DATA TO REMOVE…
Remove data – De-gausser
Remove data – Shredding disks
Crunching the disk cabinets
And into the incinerator…
E-Waste – Positive actions?
Keep using stuff.. Buy stuff you can => Maintain => Repair => Replace components => Pass-on/Re-purpose for a second life
Re- cycling is net positive… • In 2016 alone, 435,000 tonnes of phones were discarded, despite containing billions of dollars’ worth of materials. • There is a lot of economic value in e-waste, particularly from such materials as gold, silver, copper, platinum and palladium, among others. There is 100 times more gold in a tonne of smartphones than in a tonne of gold ore. The earth’s richest deposits of valuable materials are sitting in landfill sites or people’s homes. More needs to be made of these resources. • Looking at the market for smartphones, 1.46 billion were sold in 2017. At retail, each unit contains electrical components worth more than $100.49 This represents a lot of value entering the market each year. If just the raw materials are recycled, they could be worth up to $11.5 billion. • Globally e- waste is worth $62.5 billion annually, which is equivalent to Kenya’s GDP. And three times the output of all the world’s silver mines. • A more effective use of products is a second life, which keeps the materials at a higher value. Global markets for second lives of smartphones are well developed, particularly at the top end of the market. There is, however, significant room for improvement. • To capture this opportunity, we need a circular economy for electronics with Urban Mining technologies in addition to eventually replacing mining for virgin resources
A New Circular Vision for Electronics Time for a Global Reboot See : https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Climate-Change/Documents/2019/A-New-Circular-Vision-for-Electronics.pdf 2019 Report from the great and the good! The Platform for Accelerating the Circular Economy (PACE) - Aim to bring about the circular economy at speed and scale. - public-private collaboration mechanism and project accelerator hosted by the World Economic Forum. The E-waste Coalition - Aim to increase cooperation and more efficiently provide support to Member States and Parties to address the e-waste challenge. - brings together: - the International Labour Organization (ILO); - the International Telecommunication Union (ITU); - the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP); - the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO); - the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR); - the United Nations University (UNU), - the Secretariat of the Basel and Stockholm Conventions. • supported by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Economic Forum and coordinated by the Secretariat of the Environment Management Group (EMG).
So where is the UK in all this…?
UK data …. ? • UK has an above EU average of 24.9kg e-waste per person in 2017 (increasing from 2016 figure of 23.4kg), and higher than the EU average of 17.7kg.) • Overall UK households produced over 600ktonnes of WEEE and other metallic waste in 2016 • Opportunity for businesses/SMEs to realise the significant value of recycling eg through Urban mining • Watch this space ….. =>This year UK’s Environmental Audit Committee has launched an investigation into UK E- waste ….
EAC launches investigation into E-Waste (June 2019) Chair of the Environmental Audit Committee, Mary Creagh MP, said: “Our old fridges, freezers, computers, TVs, kettles and mobile phones are piling up in a ‘tsunami of e - waste’. “New phone launches, cheaper goods, and built -in obsolescence have contributed to the growth of electronic waste in recent years. “The UK produces more e -waste than the EU average. We are missing EU targets and are one of the worst offenders for exporting waste to developing countries, who are ill equipped to dispose of it in a socially and environmentally responsible way. “Our attitude to e -waste is unsustainable and the need for radical action clear. We will be investigating the UK’s e -waste industry and looking at how we can create a circular economy for electronic goods.” Held 2 nd Public Hearing on 25 th June 2020 – see https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/62/environmental-audit- committee/news/147032/eac-to-hold-its-second-public-evidence-session- on-ewaste/
EAC Chair opening remarks … • Electronic waste globally worth at least $62.5 billion annually, the equivalent of the GDP of Kenya. • A recent report from Agbogbloshie, Ghana linked toxins from e-waste to the contamination of chicken eggs with dioxins and PCBs. Agbogbloshie is a scrap yard and slum where 80,000 residents primarily subsist by retrieving metals from e-waste, some of which originated in Europe. • Despite a ban on e-waste exports to developing countries, 1.3 million tonnes of undocumented goods are exported from the EU each year. In February, the UK was ranked as the worst offender in the EU by the Basel Action Network. Following the report’s findings, the Environment Agency closed down four illegal waste operators in the UK. • The UK produces 24.9kg of e-waste per person, higher than the EU average of 17.7kg. Electronic waste in the UK is managed under the EU’s Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive and The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Regulations 2013. • UK WEEE Directive’s collection target of 65% of the average annual weight of electrical and electronic equipment placed on the market over the previous three years. The UK target for 2019 has been set at 550,577 tonnes, a 12% increase on 2018 levels. The UK missed its WEEE collection target by 45,000 tonnes in 2018. • The Government has committed to publishing a review of the 2013 WEEE Regulations this year and consulting on changing WEEE by the end of 2020. This consultation will consider ideas to incentivise sustainable product design and increase recycling. It has also committed £8 million in funding over the next three years to support research, behaviour change and local projects to boost reuse and recycling.
So what can we do… • Second Life - pass on our working but unwanted electrical stuff to others • Get broken stuff repaired • Don’t buy new - buy 2 nd hand/refurbished kit • Follow the waste hierarchy • Check out how your local council deals with e-waste The best we can!!
Thank you Let’s discuss….!
Recommend
More recommend
