Certain materials are synonymous with recycling, paper, water, various metals, fuels etc are often the poster child, championing the need for their own conservation as well the cause to recycle. However, with rising dependency on gadgets and consumption of data, the e-waste generated by end-of-life electronics is said to rise by a 33% within the next half a decade, reaching roughly 65.5 million metric tons by the end of 2017, according to a study conducted by the UN.
Part of the study further revealed that, nearly 48.9 million metric tons of electrical and electronic products were produced last year. With such high amounts of e-waste researchers are keen to find new ways to improve e-waste management and e-waste recycling. Hazard to health and environment are well documented, the task to effectively manage waste remains daunting due to lack of comprehensive data which is obscuring the real extent of waste management problem, which is why this initiative was launched under the umbrella of U.N.
Though these products will eventually find their resting place in a dump somewhere, efforts are being made to ensure effective waste management when it comes to e-waste. The data generated from over 184 countries points to a growing waste management problem as the use of these gadgets will continue to rise over the next decade. By providing high level visibility of the anticipated generation of waste, UN initiative is expected to help the governments and waste management companies, belonging to both private and government sector across the world, to pre-plan their waste management strategies in accordance with the continued rise of e-waste and the ways in which it can be recycled and reused.
The e-waste world map, further revealed that the two largest economies in the world, that of USA and China were the table toppers when it come to generating E-Waste. China produced nearly 11 million tons of electrical and electronic equipment whereas the United States produced nearly 10 million metric tons of electrical and electronic equipment to the market.
Though the US and China were far apart when it comes to e-waste per person, the Americans were the highest among large economies. On average an American produced nearly 66 pounds of e-waste as opposed to 11.9 pounds that the Chinese produced on a per-capita basis by the end of year 2012.
With rising consumer culture, need for data and real time information, the use of electrical and electronic equipment will rise and consequently, the problem of e-waste will continue to pose problems if proper waste management strategies are not deployed in due time.
Source: www.earth911.com
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