On January 15, the website of the United Nations University (UNU) published the results of a study on the analysis of the number of electronic devices that ended up in landfills in East and Southeast Asia (SEA).
The monitoring of so-called "e-waste"* in these Asian regions was carried out for the first time by the United Nations University under the SCYCLE program with financial support from the Ministry of the Environment of Japan. The study was conducted on the territory of 12 countries : Vietnam, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Cambodia, China, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Taiwan, Philippines, South Korea, Japan. According to the data received, over the past 5 years, the amount of waste from equipment has increased by almost two-thirds : both in absolute and relative (ie, in terms of the number of local population) indicators. The current volumes of "electronic waste" in these countries amount to 12.3 million tons, which is compared with the weight of the Pyramid of Cheops, multiplied by 2.4 times.
The largest increase in waste from machinery is observed in China: in this country alone, its amount has grown by 107% over 5 years, amounting to 6.7 million tons in 2015. The average per capita e-waste ratio is about 10 kilograms per person. Hong Kong (21.7 kg), Singapore (19.95 kg) and Taiwan (19.13 kg) have the highest results, while Cambodia (1.1 kg), Vietnam (1.34 kg) and the Philippines have the lowest results. (1.35 kg).
Researchers identify four main reasons why the amount of technology thrown away in Asia is growing rapidly:
- More devices appearing on the market; especially portable ones like tablets and wearables like smartwatches.
- More consumers. In the countries of this region, not only is the population growing, but also the middle class is expanding, which can afford the purchase of additional gadgets.
- Decreasing use time of electronic devices, not only due to actively developing technologies (hardware incompatibility, increasing minimum requirements for running software), but also other factors, such as fashion for products.
- Gadget import, resulting in greater device availability (both new and used).
Lack of understanding of how to properly dispose of old equipment, unwillingness to spend extra money and / or time on it, as well as a small number of special collection points for devices for their recycling and weak state policy in these matters lead to growing environmental pollution . Incorrect handling of "electronic waste" leads to other consequences: for example, burning them on an open fire causes health problems for local residents.
Only in three regions - the Republic of Korea, Taiwan and Japan - back in the late 90s, steps were taken to organize systems for the collection and processing of "electronic waste". Thanks to this, countries have mechanisms for collecting equipment, infrastructure for its processing and the necessary laws. Other countries have become more active on this issue not so long ago, and some still do not have a legislative framework, which, however, is partly offset by the activity of local organizations that are establishing relevant processes.
* The term "e-waste" is an equivalent of the English term "e-waste", which includes electrical and electronic equipment (and its components) that has been left without the intention of reuse.
PS The entire 109-page report prepared by the United Nations University is available for free download as a PDF document in English.
See also anekdotig:
- News: " UK wastes £13bn worth of food every year " (January 16, 2017)
- News: " Thailand will generate more solar energy than all of Southeast Asia " (August 3, 2015)
- Article: " Proper Waste Management ".
- Article: " How India Fights Garbage ".
- Article: " Ocean garbage islands - a new heritage of civilization ."
- Photo article: "7 days of garbage" in photographs by Gregg Segal .