We have to spread the word about telecom and Ewaste!
How many telecommunications gadgets have you owned over the past few years, and where are they now? Research shows that normally, mobile phone and other telecommunication users change their device every two years. While other electronics tend to have longer lifetimes, it can be assumed that you’ve owned at least five electronic devices since 2015.
It is easy to underestimate how much value they used to hold when we used them. Imagine discovering your old iPod, your first filmless camera, or your old boom box with a mixtape inside of it. These devices take you back in time which enable us to recycle past moments. Songs and pictures collected with these telecom devices transport us to positive moments in our lives, times evoking great happiness, sadness, or excitement.
Unfortunately, once our telecom devices fall out of use, little thought is given to their disposal. If they are still functional they may be handed down, otherwise they are largely thrown in the trash and end up in landfills or incinerators, where they pollute the environment. The UNEP says that close to 90 percent of the world’s telecom waste (41 million tonnes) is either traded or tossed in a landfill, with computers, smart phones, and other telecom devices near the top of the list. Most of this waste ends up in poor countries too, with countries like Ghana, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Vietnam developing into illegal telecom waste hubs.
Whether telecom waste is local or from abroad, this can cause environmental disasters in our communities, and unlike typical garbage, most of the telecom waste from electrical and electronic equipment doesn’t decompose over time. When not “Ecycled” or disposed of correctly, it poses a significant risk and can cause environmental damage and contamination, which has consequences to our health, welfare, and living conditions.
The key to responsible telecom recycling is knowing how your unwanted telecom waste will end up. In many Ecycling companies, workers who disassemble consumer electronics are exposed to toxic materials that contaminate groundwater.
To support telecom Ecycling, a local company partnered with Ericsson to launch a telecom and E-waste collection and awareness drive. The campaign was designed to spread awareness about minimizing the potential environmental impact associated with the disposal of telecom and E-waste in the country.
During the initiative, people were encouraged to send in used electronics to the special purpose telecom waste recycling center, which was a 20-foot container. They also recycled its own telecom and e-waste, along with corporate and other non-governmental partners beyond the telecom industry. 20 tons of telecom and e-waste were collected and transported to an approved Ecycling center.
Though the project is over, the discussion around responsible telecom and e-waste management is on-going; and with our partners, the government and other shareholders, are looking into the possibility of hashing out a long term solution to managing telecom and e-waste more sustainably.