As more and more electronic devices get disposed of each year, the global e-waste market is expected to increase significantly during the next five years. The rapidly escalating technology waste sector places even greater importance on the recycling of electronic waste.
The Digital Revolution
As the Digital Revolution continues to gather speed, the production and use of electronic and electric equipment has been explosive. As the value of such devices decrease with age, we are seeing a rapid turnover of technological equipment, with large volumes of unwanted models being disposed of rather than sold on.
Alarming statistics produced by the Environmental Protection Agency reveal that Americans alone discard of between 2 – 3 million tonnes of electronics each year. The data also shows that the shrinking lifeline of a mobile phone is now just 18 months until it gets replaced.
It is estimated that approximately 50 million tonnes of e-waste is produced globally each year. Experts foresee this figure as rising during the next decade and could increase by as much as 500 percent in developing nations such as India.
India’s burgeoning IT hub, Bengaluru, is one of the biggest generators of e-waste in India. However, according to recent data by the Environmental Management and Policy Research Institution, only 10 percent of Bengaluru electronic waste recycling capacity of 37,000 tonnes is utilised.
A global concern
The escalating e-waste market is a global concern. Comprising of myriad of components, some of which contain toxic substances, when not handled in the correct way, electronic waste can have a gravely adverse impact on the environment and human health.
So intense is the problem that the United Nations Environment Program calls e-waste the:
“Fastest growing waste stream in the world.”
So what’s the solution to the world’s burgeoning e-waste market and the problems it creates?
As gadgets’ lifelines become shorter and prospering technology hubs around the world continue to pump out millions of tonnes of e-waste each year, leading analysts are predicting the e-waste recycling market around the world will rise at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 10.7 percent from 2014 – 2019.
Stringent e-waste recycling procedures
Whilst e-waste is a subject that is typically dealt with by individual states, the issue has become a transborder issue. The United Nations (UN) introduced the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal, an international treaty addressing the cleaner production of electronics, a minimisation of hazardous waste and a control on the movement of e-waste.
Recovery, refurbishment and recycling
Exploiting the expertise and services of Bamboo Distribution will ultimately help companies overcome the escalating issues resulting from the growing amount of e-waste generated around the world.
Bamboo Distributions is amongst the world leaders in the recovery, refurbishment and recycling of mobile phones and other consumer devices. Bamboo collects e-waste and refurbishes it, consequently lightening the load of landfills. If a product cannot be refurbished Bamboo Distibution recycles it safely and responsibility, ensuring it doesn’t go to the landfill.
With the global e-waste market expected to grow significantly, it is likely to be a combined concerted effort between more stringent legislation being introducing around the world and the likes of Bamboo Distribution providing a quality and responsible recovery, refurbishment and recycling of electronic devices.
