E-waste is the term given to waste produced by the electronic industry. According to research, e-waste will probably increase by as much as 33% in the next five years. Should this happen, the total waste produced will be around 65.5 million metric tons by the year 2017. These figures have been stated in a report by an organization, which is aimed at solving the e-waste problem. The company is also backed by the UN so the report can be regarded as credible.
If the figure is analyzed, it is can easily be stated that this amount of waste is indeed massive. It can easily fill up 40 ton trucks, and if these were made to stand in a line, it would be as along as nearly three-fourths of the equator.
Generally, the electronic industry produces waste that has to be disposed of. However, efforts have been initiated so that at least some of the e-waste can be recycled and reused. This is true for certain areas; and similar programs will have to be launched worldwide for the influence to be noticeable.
The problem of global e-waste has grown in recent times, which was highlighted in a report published sometime back by the same company. The data was taken from 184 countries; figures that represent the amount of production and the amount of waste were demonstrated through an interactive map. If governments can anticipate and understand this quantity of e-waste, they will be able to manage the waste in a better way.
According to the map, last year saw the production of almost 50 million metric tons of electronic and electrical items. For each of the 7 billion people in the world, this accounts to 43 pounds per person which roughly equals the weight of eight red bricks made out of clay. The US had the seventh rank on the list which depicted the maximum amount of e-waste by each country.
According to a representative at the e-waste management company, there is a lot of awareness about the negative effect e-waste can have on the environment and health. But the data that is available is not enough, which makes it more difficult to understand the problem. Since the map explains the severity of the situation, the company is hopeful that it will now lead to more policies and programs focused on controlling e-waste.
Source: www.earth911.com