“Smartphones are one of the electronic products of highest concern for us,” said Pascal Leroy, Director General of the WEEE Forum, a not-for-profit association that represents 46 producers’ responsibility organizations.
“If we don t recycle the rare materials they contain, we ll have to mine them in countries like China or Congo,” Leroy said to AFP.
Cell phones that are no longer in use are only the top of the 44.48-million-ton globe of electronic waste which isn’t recycled as per the global 2020 electronic waste monitor.
A large portion of the five billion mobiles removed from the market will be repurposed and not being thrown away according to a study across six European countries from June through September 2022.
This is when people and companies forget to put cellphones in drawers, cupboards, garages or closets instead of bringing them into to repair or recycle.
Five kilograms (8 pounds) of electronic devices are currently stored in the typical European household, the study discovered.
According to new research that 46 percent of 8,775 households that were surveyed believed in the possibility of future uses as the main reason to keep small electronic and electrical equipment.
A further 15 percent store their gadgets in the hope to either sell them or give them away, and 13 percent of them keep the gadgets due to “sentimental value”.
– Societal challenge –
“People tend not to realise that all these seemingly insignificant items have a lot of value, and together at a global level represent massive volumes,” Pascal Leroy said. Pascal Leroy.
“But e-waste will never be collected voluntarily because of the high cost. That is why legislation is essential.”
This month, the EU legislature passed a brand new law that mandates USB-C to be the primary charging standard for all new devices, tablets and cameras starting in late 2024.
The plan is expected to result in annual savings of 200 million euro ($195 millions) and reduce over a hundred tons of EU electronic waste each year.
Based on Kees Balde the Senior Scientific Specialist of UNTAR, the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), the legislation in Europe has resulted in more e-waste disposal rate in Europe when compared to other regions in the entire world.
“At the European level, 50-55 percent of e-waste is collected or recycled,” Balde said to AFP. “In low-income countries, our estimates plunge to under 5 percent and sometimes even below 1 percent.”
While at the same time thousands of tonnes of electronic waste are shipped from countries with high-incomes (including countries that belong to the European Union — to developing countries each year and contribute to the recycling burden.
At the other end the financial resources are usually not available to ensure that e-waste can be properly treated. Hazardous chemicals like mercury and plastics can infiltrate soil and pollute water, as well as get into the food chain, such as was the case near the Ghanaian E-waste dumpsite.
A study conducted across the western African nation in the year 2019 by IPEN along with the Basel Action Network revealed a amount of chlorinated dioxins found in eggs of hens that were laid close to the Agbogbloshie dumpsite in central Accra that was 220 times greater than levels allowed in Europe.
“We have moved mountains in Europe,” said WEEE Forum director Pascal Leroy. “The challenge now is to transfer knowledge to other parts of the world.”