Before Buying Your Next iPhone…

A wrap-up of the past few weeks

In 2021 alone, human beings discarded an estimated 57.4 million tonnes of e-waste—enough to outweigh the Great Wall of China (Rosane, 2021).

Over the previous twelve weeks or so, we’ve talked at length about the origins, implications and solutions regarding the global e-waste challenge. It’s been a rather thrilling ride, hasn’t it?

We first discussed the origins and trajectory of the e-waste problem, and how it’s an exponentially growing issue that has only escalated over time. It’s also a transboundary issue, with a disproportionate distribution of its burdens across the developing world.

Next, we delved into the significance and implications of the e-waste problem. We covered how it affects, well, pretty much every part of the world out there—from the environment, to flora and fauna, and finally human beings. The threats caused by e-waste pollution are simply too large for us to ignore.

Finally, we explored the possible solutions to the global e-waste challenge, and evaluated what’s working and what’s not. Consumers, producers, and governments all share the responsibility of addressing the e-waste issue in different ways.

With all this in mind, what will you do to play your part in the push for more sustainable e-waste management? Will you think twice before buying your next iPhone? I know I will.

References

Rosane, O. (2021). This Year’s E-Waste to Outweigh Great Wall of China. EcoWatch. Retrieved 12 April 2022, from https://www.ecowatch.com/e-waste-great-wall-of-china-2655291965.html.

ALBA E-Waste in NUS and Singapore

Recycle your electronics right in your neighbourhood

Having read so many posts on responsible recycling practices, you might be thinking—okay, I’m on board! But where do I begin?

It’s simple. Ever seen one of these gigantic white boxes in your neighbourhood? You might not have noticed them previously, but they can be found all over Singapore.

Here’s a list of all the e-waste recycling collection points around Singapore (NEA, n.d.). You can also take a look at ALBA’s map on their website, which also includes a list of all their bin locations. Use these maps to locate your nearest collection point!

The e-waste collection point in NUS, located on the ground floor just outside the Central Library at FASS (Author’s own, 2022).

There’s also one located in NUS itself, if you prefer dropping off your electronics on your way to class. But remember to be careful with what you put into the bins, as not every bin is the same and certain bins only accept certain types of electronic products.

NEA’s rules regarding the type of e-waste accepted at the various types of collection points (NEA, n.d.).

The rules are pretty straightforward. 3-in-1 bins accept most products, such as all the different types of bigger ICT equipment like laptops and mobile phones. The 2-in-1 bins only accept batteries and bulbs or lamps. Batteries-only bins are, as the name suggests, strictly for batteries.

ALBA and the NEA have made it really easy and convenient to do your part in recycling your unwanted electronics. Next time you think about getting rid of that unwanted old laptop gathering dust in your room, why not give one of these e-waste collection points a try?

References

NEA. (n.d.). Where to Recycle E-Waste. Retrieved 10 April 2022, from https://www.nea.gov.sg/our-services/waste-management/3r-programmes-and-resources/e-waste-management/where-to-recycle-e-waste.

How China Uses Tech to Sort Its Waste

An app to do it all: Baidu Recycle

What if recycling e-waste could actually be as easy as clicking a few buttons? That’s what China has achieved with their Baidu Recycle app (Baidu Huishou Zhan, lit. “Baidu Recycling Station”).

The Baidu Recycle opening press conference (Baidu, 2015).

In response to the growing challenge of e-waste pollution, UNDP China collaborated with internet company Baidu to develop a smartphone application known as “Baidu Recycle” (UNDP, n.d.).

The app helps users price and recycle their unwanted electronic products by generating nearby e-waste pick-up services. It was introduced in hopes that it would streamline the recycling process, making it more convenient and hassle-free. In doing so, this would also reduce the number of informal recycling stations.

User guide to the Baidu Recycle application (UNDP, n.d). 

The Baidu Recycle app is an example of how technology can be harnessed to simplify the e-waste recycling process for everyday consumers. One of the major barriers to recycling was identified to be consumers’ lack of knowledge regarding their disposal options (Islam et al., 2021). Apps like Baidu Recycle thus ensure that the recycling process runs smoothly, taking care of everything up to your doorstep.

China is not the only one that offers apps like Baidu Recycle. Similar apps can be found in other pockets of the world, such as MyGizmo in Cincinnati or RESQ in Singapore (Hicks, 2010). However, they have yet to take off thus far. Personally, I didn’t know that RESQ existed in Singapore prior to writing this post. Though these apps are amazing inventions, they can only truly be useful if a high proportion of the population actually utilises them to dispose of their e-waste. Perhaps marketing tactics, such as offering incentives for new users, would help such apps gain popularity where they are located. This has proved successful for other apps such as Healthy 365 under the Live Healthy SG programme, which offered free Fitbit Inspire HR health trackers to users who signed up for their programme.

References

Baidu. (2015). Baidu Recycle. Retrieved 5 April 2022, from https://gongyi.baidu.com/dist/action-recycle.html.

Hicks, R. (2010). Could this app ease Singapore’s e-waste problem? Eco-Business. Retrieved 5 April 2022, from https://www.eco-business.com/news/could-this-app-ease-singapores-e-waste-problem/.

Islam, M. T., Huda, N., Baumber, A., Shumon, R., Zaman, A., Ali, F., Hossain, R., & Sahajwalla, V. (2021). A global review of consumer behavior towards e-waste and implications for the circular economy. Journal of Cleaner Production, 316, 128297. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.128297.

UNDP. (n.d.). Baidu Recycle. Retrieved 5 April 2022, from https://www.cn.undp.org/content/china/en/home/ourwork/our_campaigns/e-waste.html.

UNDP. (2016). China’s e-waste recycling app goes global. Retrieved 5 April 2022, from https://www.asia-pacific.undp.org/content/rbap/en/home/presscenter/pressreleases/2016/06/02/china-s-e-waste-recycling-app-goes-global-.html.

International E-Waste Day

Education and Public Awareness

International E-Waste Day (Erion, n.d.).

International E-Waste Day falls on 14 October every year. Organised by the WEEE Forum, the event’s objective is to raise awareness among citizens from participating nations regarding the importance of proper e-waste recycling.

In 2021, during its fourth edition, 172 organisations from 78 countries including Singapore participated in the event (WEEE Forum, n.d.). The WEEE Forum put together a video compilation featuring all the different awareness activities, which can be viewed below.

The diversity in the activities is clear, with radio and TV interviews, conferences, webinars, school and street e-waste collections, lectures, social media campaigns and many more events held to raise awareness on e-waste. Spreading information through such outlets helps to get more people involved in actively recycling e-waste.

Since people are also the consumers of electronic products, raising awareness through public education is key in the shift towards more sustainable e-waste practices. This goes hand in hand with more producer-based strategies, like the EPR ones mentioned in a previous post. By tackling both the consumer and the producer sides of the e-waste challenge, this ensures that e-waste management can be more all-rounded and thus effective.

References

Erion. (n.d.). International E-Waste Day is celebrated on 14th October 2020. Retrieved 3 April 2022, from https://erion.it/en/news/14-october-2020-international-e-waste-day/.

WEEE Forum. (n.d.). About. Retrieved 3 April 2022, from https://weee-forum.org/iewd-about/.

Urban Mining

Extracting gold from your mobile phone: Urban mining

Urban mining is a new approach to recycling, referring to the process of recovering metals from e-waste (Arya et al. 2021). This is a technique introduced recently to address the global e-waste challenge, as part of the push towards a more sustainable life cycle of electronic products. You could think of it as somewhat similar to the idea of renewable energy—it’s all about the recycling of what we already have, rather than generation from scratch.

Urban mining is an alternative to virgin mining, the more traditional method to extracting precious metals. Virgin mining is comparatively undesirable, having resulted in catastrophic environmental disasters in the past such as mine explosion events and poisoning events. Virgin mining has also been proven to be an unsustainable option for our future, according to Murthy & Ramakrishna (2021). On the other hand, urban mining is cheaper in cost and just as viable for extracting precious metals.

Olympic athletes show off small electronic devices donated by people from all over Japan, instead of their shiny medals (International Olympic Committee, 2021).

Have an extra old Nokia lying around that you don’t use anymore? It could be more valuable than you think. Between April 2017 and March 2019, people from all over Japan donated over six million mobile phones to the organisers of Tokyo 2020 (Smedley, 2020). From the devices collected, precious metals were extracted and used to make 5,000 gold, silver and bronze medals for the Games (International Olympic Committee, 2021).

It’s amazing how the Tokyo Olympics were able to garner so much support for their urban mining scheme. Locally, urban mining has yet to gain much traction in Singapore. Seeing the comparative advantages that urban mining offers over virgin mining, we should continue to explore how urban mining could be adopted and promoted outside large-scale events like the Olympics.

References

Arya, S., Patel, A., Kumar, S., & Pau-Loke, S. (2021). Urban mining of obsolete computers by manual dismantling and waste printed circuit boards by chemical leaching and toxicity assessment of its waste residues. Environmental Pollution (1987), 283, 117033-117033. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2021.117033.

International Olympic Committee. (2021). Tokyo 2020 highlights the possibilities for a circular economy. Retrieved 5 April 2022, from https://olympics.com/ioc/news/tokyo-2020-highlights-the-possibilities-for-a-circular-economy.

Murthy, V., & Ramakrishna, S. (2022). A review on global E-waste management: Urban mining towards a sustainable future and circular economy. Sustainability (Basel, Switzerland), 14(2), 647. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14020647.

Smedley, T. (2020). How to mine precious metals in your home. Retrieved 1 April 2022, from https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200407-urban-mining-how-your-home-may-be-a-gold-mine.

Developing Biodegradable Electronic Products

The new wave of technology

As discussed in a previous post, one response to increased producer responsibility is the development of new technologies to make electronic products more sustainable by design. With this has come a new wave of technology, and the emergence of biodegradable products as a more viable and sustainable future for the electronics industry.

New materials have been created in the push to invent more biodegradable electronic products (DeWeerdt, 2017).

A group of scientists from Stanford University managed to create a new semiconductive polymer which can decompose upon contact to weak acid (Lei et al., 2017). By using this material to make electronic devices, such devices can completely disintegrate within a month when treated with mild acid. The acid required is also so mild that the natural environment alone could probably provide appropriate conditions to break down the polymer, according to the researchers.

This is the future of electronic devices. With such advancements in research and technology, biodegradable electronic products will become more and more viable, allowing for non-biodegradable products to be gradually phased out. Hopefully, this will reduce the amount of e-waste generated, if electronic devices themselves become absorbable into the natural environment.

References

DeWeerdt, S. (2017). Totally biodegradable electronics could help solve e-waste problem. Anthropocene. Retrieved 27 March 2022, from https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2017/05/totally-biodegradable-electronics-could-help-solve-e-waste-problem/.

Lei, T., Guan, M., Liu, J., Lin, H., Pfattner, R., Shaw, L., McGuire, A. F., Huang, T., Shao, L., Cheng, K., Tok, J. B. -., & Bao, Z. (2017). Biocompatible and totally disintegrable semiconducting polymer for ultrathin and ultralightweight transient electronics. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences – PNAS, 114(20), 5107-5112. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1701478114.

The Extended Producer Responsibility System

Who’s responsible for e-waste?

It’s the age-old debate of who’s responsible for the management of e-waste—is it the consumers, or the producers?

We could spend forever debating this topic, but it’s undeniable that both sides have some part to play to a certain extent. In order to hold producers more accountable, extended producer responsibility (EPR) principles have been established as part of e-waste regulation strategies worldwide.

The management process of e-waste as framed by EPR, which can help to drive a zero-waste circular economy (Zero Waste Scotland, n.d.).

The OECD defines EPR as an environmental policy approach, whereby producers’ responsibility for a product extends to the post-consumer stage of the product’s life cycle (OECD, 2016). This effectively places the responsibility for tackling e-waste on the corporations which are producing and selling electronic products.

Countries around the world have their own variations of EPR-driven policies. In Switzerland, the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) and the Advance Recycling Fee (AFR) policy exist to ensure that producers and importers of electronic goods manage the e-waste generated (Adanu, 2020). Across the globe in Japan, the Home Appliance Recycling Law, which went into force in 2001, which dictates that producers have to consider product recycling in the design and production of their products (Cao et al., 2016).

EPR-driven schemes are just one way in which a zero-waste circular economy could be achieved. In future posts, we’ll talk more about innovative ways in which producers have approached EPR regulations.

References

Adanu, S. K., Gbedemah, S. F., & Attah, M. K. (2020). Challenges of adopting sustainable technologies in e-waste management at Agbogbloshie, Ghana. Heliyon, 6(8), e04548-e04548. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2020.e04548.

Cao, J., Lu, B., Chen, Y., Zhang, X., Zhai, G., Zhou, G., Jiang, B., & Schnoor, J. L. (2016). Extended producer responsibility system in China improves e-waste recycling: Government policies, enterprise, and public awareness. Renewable & Sustainable Energy Reviews, 62, 882-894. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2016.04.078.

OECD. (2016). Extended producer responsibility: updated guidance for efficient waste management. OECD Publishing, Paris. Retrieved 24 March 2022, from https://doi-org.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/10.1787/9789264256385-en.

Zero Waste Scotland. (n.d.). Extended Producer Responsibility. Retrieved 24 March 2022, from https://www.zerowastescotland.org.uk/our-work/extended-producer-responsibility.

The Circular Economy

Towards a zero-waste circular economy

A “circular economy” is what’s often mentioned when talking about sustainable e-waste management. But what exactly is a circular economy, and what does it entail?

There isn’t a universally accepted definition of the circular economy thus far, but according to Kirchherr et al. (2017, p. 224),

“A circular economy describes an economic system that is based on business models which replace the ‘end-of-life’ concept with reducing, alternatively reusing, recycling, and recovering materials in production/distribution and consumption processes, thus operating at the micro level (products, companies, consumers), meso level (eco-industrial parks), and macro level (city, region, nation and beyond), with the aim to accomplish sustainable development, which implies creating environmental quality, economic prosperity, and social equity, to the benefit of current and future generations.”

Whew. That was quite a mouthful, wasn’t it? It may seem complicated, but it’s actually simpler than you’d think. Much as its name suggests, a circular economy involves the circulation of resources through the economy from producer to consumer, and then back to producers again. It recovers and recycling resources at the end of the lifespan of a product, reusing the same resources in the production of newer products, and so on. This is viewed as the most ideal, sustainable model to tackle things like e-waste and electronic products, since it helps to reduce waste significantly.

The difference between a linear economy and a circular economy (Towards Zero Waste, n.d.).

Extended producer responsibility (EPR)-driven schemes are one of the ways in which countries have started the transition towards achieving a zero-waste circular economy. We’ll talk more about EPR in a future post. Other endeavours also include research and development (R&D) programmes, such as the Closing the Waste Loop Initiative that helps to facilitate collaborations between research institutes and private sector businesses. These help to introduce new and creative ideas in approaching the e-waste challenge.

Now that we’ve learned what a circular economy actually is, keep its definition in mind—we’ll be hearing the term again many more times in the future weeks to come!

References

Kirchherr, J., Reike, D., & Hekkert, M. (2017). Conceptualizing the circular economy: An analysis of 114 definitions. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 127, 221-232. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2017.09.005.

Towards Zero Waste. (n.d.). Circular Economy. Retrieved 21 March 2022, from https://www.towardszerowaste.gov.sg/circular-economy/.

Pollution Crime: The Illegal E-Waste Trade

The great escape

Let’s think back to the post on the Khian Sea Waste Disposal Incident, and the creation of the Basel Convention international treaty to stop transboundary movement of e-waste. Hopefully, that’s helped to reduce e-waste exportation from developed to developing countries, right?

Wrong.

Even despite legislation such as the Basel Convention, the movement of e-waste from developed to developing nations continues even today. By exploiting legislative loopholes, countries have found “innovative” ways to bypass such regulations and continue shipping their e-waste to developing nations. For instance, one of the amendments to the Basel Convention permits the trade of second-hand or used electrical and electronic equipment (UEEE) or recycling materials. This was added with the intention of increasing access to technology for the underprivileged, but has however backfired.

The Basel Action Network (BAN) is a non-profit organisation dedicated to fight against toxic trade and prevent prevent pollution dumping in underprivileged areas (Basel Action Network, n.d.).

A group of researchers from MIT partnered with the BAN to test this legislative loophole (Carcamo, 2018). They planted hidden trackers in 17 cathode-ray tube (CRT) monitors and disposed of the monitors in e-waste collection sites in Los Angeles, California. According to the researchers, 6 of the 17 monitors were smuggled to Asian countries like Malaysia and China. This highlights how countries have found ways to successfully get around international laws policing e-waste and avoid complying with them.

By exploiting the amendment in the Basel Convention, e-waste thus continues to be exported for disposal in countries outside its generation. According to a report by the UNODC (2013), an estimated 8 million tons of e-waste gets smuggled into China every year. The e-waste is channelled through places like Hong Kong, which is a free port and has become a central hub for e-waste trafficking. The BAN has successfully tracked shipments of CRTs which managed to evade customs control in Hong Kong and were stored in the New Territories area in Hong Kong, before eventually being transported across the border via trucks (UNODC, 2013).

It is apparent that legislation like the Basel Convention remains inadequate in preventing the trade of e-waste between developed and developing nations. While organisations like the BAN have spearheaded crackdowns on such illegal activities, this is clearly not enough to tackle the massive amount of e-waste that continues to be smuggled illegally across the world. It is time to re-evaluate whether the Basel Convention and other forms of related legislation should be updated and reviewed to address this issue.

References

Basel Action Network. (n.d.). About us. Retrieved 18 March 2022, from https://www.ban.org/about-us.

Carcamo, A. M. (2018). How to combat electronic waste trafficking? The path may be tracking. Yale Environment Review. Retrieved 18 March 2022, from https://environment-review.yale.edu/how-combat-electronic-waste-trafficking-path-may-be-tracking.

Purchase, D., Abbasi, G., Bisschop, L., Chatterjee, D., Ekberg, C., Ermolin, M., Fedotov, P., Garelick, H., Isimekhai, K., Kandile, N. G., Lundström, M., Matharu, A., Miller, B. W., Pineda, A., Popoola, O. E., Retegan, T., Ruedel, H., Serpe, A., Sheva, Y., . . . Wong, M. H. (2020). Global occurrence, chemical properties, and ecological impacts of e-wastes (IUPAC technical report). Pure and Applied Chemistry, 92(11), 1733-1767. https://doi.org/10.1515/pac-2019-0502.

UNODC. (2013). Transnational Organized Crime Threat Assessment – East Asia and the Pacific. Retrieved 18 March 2022, from https://www.unodc.org/documents/toc/Reports/TOCTA-EA-Pacific/TOCTA_EAP_c09.pdf.

E-Waste Legislation Around the World

Regulating e-waste disposal

Last chapter, we discussed all the implications and impacts that e-waste pollution has on the world we live in. Now, in the first post in the “Solutions” chapter, let’s turn our attention to the possible strategies that could help mitigate and alleviate the global e-waste problem.

Naturally, when one talks about possible solutions, the first thing that comes to mind is usually laws regarding the regulation of e-waste disposal. As part of the global shift towards sustainable e-waste management, an estimated 66% of the world is currently covered under e-waste legislation (Balde, 2017). While this number has risen over the past decade, it is still not enough.

A comparison of the number of countries in the world that were covered by e-waste legislation in 2014, 2017 and 2019 (Forti, 2020).

However, e-waste legislation at present is still lacking in many ways. Different countries have different country-specific issues regarding e-waste, and thus also have different e-waste legislation. However, some experts have criticised this, saying that this is not holistic enough (Patil & Ramakrishna, 2020). According to Patil & Ramakrishna (2020), each country has flaws regarding their current e-waste legislative frameworks—places like South Korea and Taiwan, for instance, do not have comprehensive enough laws that include all stakeholders and their responsibilities. Other places like Europe and India have comprehensive laws, but weak enforcement which diminishes the effectiveness of their legislations.

Besides just individual country laws, experts have emphasised the need for an international council to properly regulate and co-ordinate e-waste management efforts across the world. After all, as mentioned in previous posts, the e-waste challenge is one that has cross-boundary drivers and impacts. On top of this, a good proportion of the world is still not covered by e-waste legislation, and they are often located in the developing world. As such, developing a uniform global standards is crucial for the future of e-waste management.

References

Balde, C. P., Forti, V., Gray, V., Kuehr, R., & Stegmann, P. (2017). The global e-waste monitor 2017: quantities, flows and resources. United Nations University, International Telecommunication Union, and International Solid Waste Association.

Forti, V. (2020). Global electronic waste up 21 percent in five years, and recycling isn’t keeping up. The Jakarta Post. Retrieved 14 March 2022, from https://www.thejakartapost.com/life/2020/07/23/global-electronic-waste-up-21-in-five-years-and-recycling-isnt-keeping-up.html.

Patil, R. A., & Ramakrishna, S. (2020). A comprehensive analysis of e-waste legislation worldwide. Environmental Science and Pollution Research International, 27(13), 14412-14431. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-07992-1.