A recent study from the United Nations reveals that electronic waste will increase threefold by 2017.
Electronic wastes include anything with a battery or cord or to put it more simply; the daily electronic appliances we use like mobiles, refrigerators or televisions. The gadgets that make our life easy, when discarded, add to the waste burden on our planet. Although there are some gadgets, which can be profitably recycled.
Presently, electronic waste measures around 53.9 million tons and is expected to increase to a minimum of 72.09 million tons by 2017. The United States ranks first in the list of culprits with nearly 9.4 million tons of electric waste generated every year on an average. China is next in the queue with around 7.3 million tons of electronic waste, reveals a recent post on Associated Press.
The findings of the study are based on the durability of the products that fall under the category of electronic waste and how often they are abandoned by users in several countries. White goods have not been counted in the list as they are mostly sent for recycling.
The global average of trash dumped by an individual stands at 15 pounds. The electronic gadgets thrown away by a U.S. individual annually are more than four times (66 pounds) the global standard. China comes a close second with individual e-waste weighing around 12 pounds per year, nearly double of the global permit.
China is the largest market for electronic devices and the amount of e-waste is increasing with more access to goods in the market. In fact, in 2012 China was leading in e-waste (11.1 million metric tons). The U.S. reportedly dumped 10 million metric tons of electronic waste last year.
Interestingly, the electronic device that is most commonly dumped in the U.S. is the cellphone. Nearly 120 million phones have been discarded in 2012 in the U.S.
E-wastes contain many harmful elements that can cause several health hazards. Moreover, these products can be recycled, a simpler way to conserve resources. But neither the manufacturers nor the users are opting for this measure as dumping is the easier way out.
