Where Does E-Waste End Up?

Managing mobile phone and computer recycling

State-of-the-art electronic gadgets are nifty to own, but they bring headache once they have reached the end-of-life stage or the novelty has worn off.

Is Apple to be blamed for the e-waste surge?

There is a high chance you are owning an iPhone. In 2014, over half of the smartphone users in Japan owned iPhone, and iPhone jeopardised Samsung’s crown in the smartphone market of its own homeland (South Korea) with an unprecedented share of 33% as compared to latter’s 46% (Rob, 2015). It began in 2007, the year that oversaw the revolution in mobile phone industry led by the late Steve Jobs with his introduction of the first generation of iPhone at Apple’s Macworld event.

Since then, diehard iPhone fans (perhaps you are one?) have sprung up all over the world, of which the enormous number could be evidenced by the lines that materialise every time a new iPhone is released. According to Apple, over 10 million iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus model were sold in the three days following their launch in September 2014. In that quarter, 74.5 million iPhones were sold, equivalent to 34,097 iPhones every hour (Chuck, 2015). While such brisk market activity is encouraging, these auspicious statistics also herald the potential manifestation of 74.5 million units of electronic garbage upon the release of next generation of iPhone (which may be a matter of a year or two).

What is the fate of old iPhones in Malaysia?

Six iPhone models within seven years (2007 to 2014) is a staggering replacement rate. The question is: where do the old iPhones end up? While old iPhones, just like other obsolete electronic waste, could be sent to an e-waste recovery facility for professional recycling, it is not yet a common practice in Malaysia.

According to a survey conducted in Shah Alam by University Putra in 2010, only 57% of the respondents were literate about e-waste, and most of the respondents were clueless on how to manage their e-waste. The paper also revealed that the respondents tend to store their out-of-use electronic items or discard them with other general waste (Junaidah, 2010). This finding could help explain why many full recovery facilities were not able to run at full capacity due to lack of e-waste supply despite there being only 18 of them (as of February 2013) across Malaysia (Fatihah, Rakmi, Arij & Mohd, 2014). With the awareness about e-waste recycling relatively low in Malaysia, it is of no wonder disposing of e-waste at household rubbish bins for municipal collection is an option that many find sensible, if not a popular one.

e-waste definition and category

Before we move on, it may be useful to define e-waste clearly. According to the most widely accepted definition (by European Union, EU), e-waste is referred to electrical or electronic equipment waste that includes all components, subassemblies, and consumables that are part of the product at the time it is discarded (Fatihah et al., 2014). The classification of e-waste is as shown in the side bar.

Are we harming ourselves?

This may be an overstatement, but it reflects some truth about the peril of disposing of e-waste in household garbage bins. As stated by California Department of Resources and Recovery (2014), when inappropriately disposed of, the toxic heavy metals inside e-waste can be released into the environment (e.g. seep underground in landfill sites) and contaminate our air, water, possibly the food we eat too. And by throwing e-waste in trash bins, we could pose hazards to garbage handlers; when the waste are crushed in collection trucks, garbage handlers will be exposed to toxic heavy metals commonly found in electronic items.

Why are those heavy metals (e.g. lead, cadmium and mercury) a safety concern?

High levels of exposure to lead could stunt the development of the brain and central nervous system, while long-term exposure to cadmium has been linked with renal (kidney) dysfunction, obstructive lung disease, bone defects, as well as increased blood pressure (Lenntech, n.d.). In a nutshell, discarding e-waste at household garbage bin for municipal collection is reckless – not only we are aggravating the wound of our environment, but also sabotaging our and garbage handlers’ health.

The proper manner to dispose of e-waste

Landfill should be the last resort for out-of-use electronic items, not only from the viewpoint of human and environmental safety, but also the economic perspective. The valuable materials (e.g. copper, zinc, aluminium and other ferrous and non-ferrous metals) contained within most electronic items make good feedstock for the production of new consumer goods. Should they end up in landfill, increasing mining of virgin materials would be necessitated, which in turn incur more cost than metal recovery from recycled e-waste. Given that about 90% of the components of an electrical item could be recycled, recycling is the optimum way to manage our disused electronic equipment (Zero Waste SA, n.d.). Below are channels that could take care of our disused electronic equipment in Malaysia:

E-waste collection centres are prescribed by Department of Environment (DOE)

• E-waste accepted: Used mobile phones, mobile phone’s batteries and accessories, computer and accessories, and television sets
• Addresses of collection centres could be found on DOE’s website – eswis.doe.gov.my

Product manufacturer or retailer

• Check out their website to see if they offer recycling option
• Usually mobile phone, computer and related accessories manufacturers and retailers offer take-back scheme, especially for ink and toner cartridge

Recycling services by NGO (providing pick-up service)

(a) Pertubuhan Amal Seri Sinar – www.recyclecharity.org

E-waste accepted: Computer, hi-fi set (audio equipment), television, player, fans, fridge, vacuum cleaner, washing machine and etc

Services: 300 recycle bins and pick-up service in Klang Valley area

(b) Ammrich One-Stop IT Recycle Collection Centre – www.ammrich.webs.com

E-waste accepted: mobile electronic items, does not accept bulky items (e.g. fridge, television, and washing machine)

Services: Pick-up service (nationwide)

(c) iCYCLE: (Facebook – iCYCLE MALAYSIA)

E-waste accepted: Scrap electrical and electronic product, computer-related waste

Services: Pick-up service (Ampang, Cheras, Klang, Shah Alam)

(d) Tzu Chi Recyclables Collection Points – eng.tzuchi.my

E-waste accepted: Used electrical items, car battery

Services: Recycling points and centres in eight states

Community Recycling Centres (Klang Valley)

(a) IPC (Ikano) Recycling & Buy Back Centre: www.ipc.com.my

E-waste accepted: Mercury content light bulbs (also known as CFL – Compact Fluorescent Lamp), fluorescent tubes and batteries

*Ensure tubes and bulbs are wrapped securely for safety reason

(b) Google search ‘recycling centres in Klang Valley’

a map with the distribution of recycling centres in Klang Valley is available

Donation

Orphanage, school, charity or church may value your disused but functional electronic equipment

What happens at the recycling mill?

• All mentioned above are just about transporting your e-waste to the right place. Recycling mill is where the work of restoring value to the e-junk really begins.
• Depending on the manner by which it is collected, e-waste products collected for recycling are usually manually dismantled or mechanically shredded.
• Materials are sorted into various product streams: metals, plastics, glass, cables, packaging, etc. There is very little which is not recycled.

New life of recycled materials:

• Recycled plastics are used in the manufacture of things like outdoor furniture, plastic plant pots, dashboards for cars
• Recycled metals are used as raw materials for remanufacture into the same metals
• Leaded glass from Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) glass (television screen) is used in the manufacture of new CRT glass and lead production (Zero Waste SA, n.d.).y will thank you too.