E-waste management: Challenges and opportunities

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapters

Abstract

With the high speed of development in technology, electrical, and electronic waste (e-waste) had a rapid growth, which has been a heavy burden to ecological environment and human health over the last few decades. E-waste management has been an urgency puzzle to many countries since they are composed of a variety of organic substances like plastic and heavy metals like cadmium, chromium, mercury, and lead, which can accumulate in the food chain and the eco-environment due to the nonbiodegradable nature. Plastics as an important composition of e-products gathered in the landfills after their end of life, which contaminated the soil and groundwater. Recycling and disposing these materials in a safe and economical way will need huge investigation in technology and education by governments and industry. The electronic product updated fast due to the rapid growth of technology. There is a huge gap between the production and management properly. Large quantities of obsolete electronic products have been exported to the developing countries due to high cost and lacking labor, where, however, inappropriate and unsafe methods are used to manage this e-waste. In this review, the adverse effect the global management about e-waste is presented based on recent researches and surveys. The review also summarized some sustainable ways that would provide an opportunity for the underdeveloped areas. The developing technologies and improving policies of e-waste management are summarized. As an important part of e-waste recycling and management, legislative rules played a vital role in a certain region. In this review, the different policies and legislations would be compared between developed countries and developing countries. To solve the problem of e-waste fundamentally, the role of the individuals also would not be ignored. E-waste education would be an important part to help the individuals to change the lifestyles and strengthen their awareness about the positive effect of e-waste. Copyright © 2019 Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationEnvironmental sustainability and education for waste management: Implications for policy and practice
EditorsWinnie Wing Mui SO, Cheuk Fai CHOW, John Chi Kin LEE
Place of PublicationSingapore
PublisherSpringer
Pages15-26
ISBN (Electronic)9789811391736
ISBN (Print)9789811391729
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2019

Citation

Deng, W.-J. (2019). E-waste management: Challenges and opportunities. In W. W. M. So, C. F. Chow, & J. C. K. Lee (Eds.), Environmental sustainability and education for waste management: Implications for policy and practice (pp. 15-26). Singapore: Springer.

Keywords

  • Electronic waste
  • Heavy metals
  • Plastics
  • Sustainable management
  • Recycling

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