In recent years, e-waste has become the world’s fastest growing household waste stream, mainly due to the increasing consumption rate of electrical and electronic equipment, while the life cycle of electronic devices is increasing. getting shorter and shorter.
A recently published report shows that the recycling and recovery of precious elements from e-waste is considered an urgent security issue that needs to be enacted into law in Europe.
Workers work at an e-waste collection center in Ploufragan, western France. Photo: AFP/VNA According to the European Union (EU) funded CEWASTE e-waste report, circuit boards, magnets in drives and electric vehicles, batteries and fluorescent lamps are among the items containing important raw materials. , including gold, silver and cobalt, can be recycled and reused. However, these rare materials often make up a very small percentage of each item thrown away, making them often overlooked. For example, the report estimates that by 2025, discarded fluorescent lamps in Europe will contain 92 tonnes of vital raw materials. Printed circuit boards in the region’s e-waste could contain up to 41 tons of silver and 10 tons of gold by 2025. Meanwhile, Europe’s supply chains have become “too vulnerable”, especially is the defense industry, as noted by Mr. Pascal Leroy – one of the authors of the report. The production of items in Europe, from computer systems to drones, is largely dependent on external supplies. As a result, the report highlights that recycling e-waste will help protect vital supplies for consumer electronics and even the European defense industry. In addition, with the materials needed to make wind turbines and electric cars, items that are discarded if recycled also play an important role in meeting climate change and environmental goals. improve the competitiveness of the manufacturing industry. The report also highlights some types of e-waste that are said to have sufficient raw materials to be recycled and recovered. These include printed circuit board materials obtained from discarded electronic equipment; batteries from e-waste and scrap cars; neodymium iron boron magnets from the hard drives and motors of electric bicycles and scooters, and fluorescent powder from lamps and cathode ray tubes found in televisions and television screens. The researchers found that many raw materials have low value and are volatile, meaning that recycling them is considered too expensive for businesses. The report therefore calls for legislation on the recycling and reuse of critical raw materials, financing to support the recycling industry, and better control of shipments of waste. e-waste is transported out of the EU. According to the “Global Electronic Waste Monitoring 2020” report published by the United Nations (UN) in July last year, in 2019, there were a total of 53.6 million tons of e-waste worldwide. , up 21% from 5 years ago. In which, Asia is the largest producer with about 24.9 million tons, followed by the Americas 13.1 million tons and Europe 12 million tons. Meanwhile, the amount of e-waste in Africa and Oceania is 2.9 and 0.7 million tons, respectively. Of the more than 53 million tons of e-waste generated, only 17% of the waste is recycled, with the rest going to landfills, incineration or simply not being treated. This means that an amount of rare materials such as gold, silver … worth up to 55 billion USD “presents” in e-waste that has been thrown away or burned instead of being collected for treatment. and reuse. Meanwhile, the exploitation of raw materials has been promoted in many countries to create new products, causing environmental concerns.
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