W e all love our cell phones, tablets, and flat screen TVs. Many of us also love to replace those gadgets every couple of years with the latest and greatest new models, which led to creation of E-waste. Around the world, 30 to 50 million tons of electronic devices are tossed away every year. That volume of e-waste is expected to increase by an impressive three to five percent per year as consumers demand more and more “smart” products.
In 2012, we discarded 48.9 million tonnes of electrical and electronic products. If current trends continue, by 2017, the annual amount of e-waste produced globally will reach 65.4 million tonnes – that’s roughly 20% of the weight of all the people living on Earth.
But where do all those older electronic devices end up? Too many of those devices today end up forgotten in a desk drawer or, worse, in a landfill. Yet many are realising that the gadgets we chuck away can be ripped apart and transformed into something new – brand new technology, or even art. Your old phone, printer or electric toothbrush may seem worthless, but it’s a building material.
One man’s waste, however, is another man’s treasure. “There might be advanced circuit boards in this equipment – especially in the newer equipment,”. However, much of the problem will be left in the hands of those dreaming up clever ways to re-use old gadgets and electronics.And also to create a awareness about E-waste , people are still discarding their e-junk in regular bins instead of taking it to be recycled