E-waste : A Challenge for Sustainable Development

Steady technological advancement in the modern world has been making our lives easier, simpler and faster in so many ways with the progressive invention of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) such as personal computers (PCs), scanners and televisions.1 The obsolescence of these forms of EEE is termed as ‘technological waste’ or ‘e-waste’ or ‘waste from electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE)’.2 The volume of generated e-waste has been increasing in line with economic development all over the world. According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), e-waste growth has significantly increased as a proportion of global solid waste generation and now comprises 8% of the total volume of current municipal Background. E-waste has been identified as the fastest growing waste stream in the world at present. Rapid socio-economic development and technological advancement are the main drivers of this trend. The hazardous chemical components of e-waste have potential adverse impacts on ecosystems and human health if not managed properly. This represents an imminent challenge to achieving sustainable development goals. Although technologically developed countries are the main source of e-product production and e-waste generation, the generated volume has also been increasing in developing countries and those in transition due to transport and transfer from e-waste source countries. Consequently, developing countries are in a vulnerable situation due to their lack of inventory data, waste management policies and advanced technology for environmentally sound management. Objectives. This study aims to demonstrate that the present global e-waste scenarios and health hazards could prolong the achievement of sustainable development targets. This study illustrates scenarios from different perspectives and raises concerns about e-waste, identifies information gaps, and provides a basis for knowledge and awareness building and technological improvement to facilitate global long-term sustainable development. Discussion. Total and per capita global e-waste generation has been increased along with socio-economic development. These products present a significant global challenge due to the hazardous chemicals they contain, their highly technical recycling requirements and the high overhead and costs of environmentally sound management, as well as their adverse impacts to human health. Although high-income countries are the main sources of this waste, low-income countries are experiencing an increase in e-waste due to the shifting process of both recently produced and used electric and electronic equipment (UEEE), as well as cheap management overhead costs. Consequently, they bear the greatest burden of adverse health hazards and ecosystem degradation, prolonging their achievement of sustainable development goals. Conclusions. Sustainability is being prioritized for all development activities by integrating societal, economic, environmental, technological, cultural, and gender perspectives. Considering the adverse potential eco-toxicological impacts and diverse health effects of e-waste, an urgent global multilateral agreement is needed addressing its management (i.e., handling, storage, transportation, recycling, and final disposal), whether by land filling or incineration. Due to the global nature of the issue and the difficulty of establishing sustainable and environmentally sound processing of e-waste in low-income countries, multinational negotiation and collaboration is the only realistic solution. Furthermore, comprehensive global e-waste management and policies could help to off-set the hazards of e-waste and are the best approach for achieving sustainable development. Competing Interests. The authors declare no competing financial interests.


Introduction
Steady technological advancement in the modern world has been making our lives easier, simpler and faster in so many ways with the progressive invention of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) such as personal computers (PCs), scanners and televisions. 1 The obsolescence of these forms of EEE is termed as 'technological waste' or 'e-waste' or 'waste from electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE)' . 2 The volume of generated e-waste has been increasing in line with economic development all over the world. According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), e-waste growth has significantly increased as a proportion of global solid waste generation and now comprises 8% of the total volume of current municipal Waste from electric and electronic equipment growing waste fractions. 7 In terms of developed countries, it comprises 1% of total MSW. By 2020 however, it is expected to rise to 6%, with a range of 0.01% to 1% for developing countries with <1 kg per year, and this growth rate is exponential. 8 Unfortunately, only 10 to 15% of this amount is managed properly, while the rest is disposed of in open landfills according to one study. 9 Although e-waste is omnipresent and generated everywhere, highincome countries such as the US, countries of the European Union, and Australia, Japan, etc. are considered to be the main sources of e-waste. E-waste constitutes on average 8% of total solid waste generation in these countries. 4,5,10,11 Rapidly developing countries in transition such as China, Latin America and Eastern Europe will be major producers of e-products in the next ten years and will represent 1-3% of the 1636 million tons of MSW generated per year of MSW. 12,13 These wastes can be classified into 26 common categories and contain more than 1,000 diverse toxic substances including heavy metals and organics, which pose adverse effects to human health and ecosystems due to improper handling and disposal. 14,15 Developing countries and those in transition are gradually being affected by this imminent toxic threat from e-waste because of their rapid movement towards technological development without the accompanying procedures, policies and infrastructure to deal effectively with the waste. In these circumstances, both recently produced and used electrical and electronic equipment (UEEE) are being consigned from their parent producers from high-income countries to low-income countries. 16, 17 In this case, some Asian and African

E-waste Generation Globally
Industrialized and developed nations are the main producers of e-waste. According to the USEPA, the US is the largest e-waste producer in the world today, generating 3.16 million tons in 2008. 3 In addition, 5 million tons were in storage with 2.37 million tons ready for disposal in 2009, and that represents a 120% increase from 1999. The EU generated 8.9 million tons in 2010 and that rate is increasing by 3-5% yearly,and is projected to be 12 million tons by 2020. 6, 23 The rapidly increasing trend of e-waste production is rising in the biggest and fastest growing economies such as China and India. China is ranked second after the US and generated 2.3 million tons of e-waste in 2010 and is predicted to have a surplus by 2020. 24, 25 In addition, India generated 400,000 tons in 2011. 26 The European Union is also considered to be one of the biggest producers of e-waste. In 2010, the EU produced 8.9 million tons of e-waste. 27 This comprised 1-3% of the total MSW in the US, a 16-28% in India and 37% in Bangladesh since 1991. 19 Consequently, the air, water and soil in the proximity of the dumped e-wastes are contaminated by hazardous pollutants contained in the e-waste, which have been adversely affecting the health of individuals working in this sector. The main cause of these adverse environmental and health issues is the lack of formal technological recycling or handling systems or effective regulations introduced for the management of these toxic substances.

E-waste Composition
The composition of e-waste is diverse, containing more than 1,000 different toxic and non-toxic substances. 5 The onset of technological advancement

Figure 1 -Proportion of different E-wastes' types in its global physical composition (Mario and Casey 2008; Schwarzer et al. 2005)
increase every five years, which is 3-times faster than MSW generation. A recent study found that annually, 5 to 7 million tons of e-waste is generated in the EU with a per capita of 14-15 kg and is expected to increase at a 3 to 5% annual growth rate. 8 The analysis based on the Solving the E-waste Problem (StEP) database found that a total of 51.37 million metric tons (MMT) of e-waste was generated globally in 2012. 28 Among the different regions, East Asian countries are foremost (22.81%) in both total (11.72 MMT) and per capita (17.07 kg) generation, of which China (7.25 MMT) and Japan (2.74 MMT) were the major contributors. The rest of the Asian regions were  (AOSIS) contribution was smaller in both total and per capita generated. 29 The analysis is shown in Figure 3.

Emerging Markets Case Study: South Asia Economic development in South
Asian countries has enhanced their industrialization and technological advancement daily. Consequently, the volume of e-waste generated has also been increasing with the importation of lifestyle improvement e-products. In addition, India generates e-waste and also imports e-waste from developed countries. 34 India is considered to be the second largest e-waste processing country in the world, 70% of which is originated abroad. 35 It generates between 146,000-330,000 tons of e-waste yearly and this was expected to rise to 4,700,000 tons by 2011 based on a projected growth of 34% per year. 17 In addition, in Sri Lanka, there are about 500,000 mobile phones and these are adding more e-waste to a market that has the potential to generate 60-65 tons annually. 9 According to the StEP database, in the context of South Asian countries in 2012, India was the highest e-waste producer (2.75 MMT) within the region. 28 Pakistan generated 0.30 MMT and Bangladesh 0.18 MMT. The Maldives was found to be the lowest e-waste producer (1690 MT) with Bhutan (2821 MT) the next lowest producer. E-waste generation volume is shown in Figure 4.
On the other hand, the Maldives was the highest producer of e-waste in terms of per capita production (5.11 kg), although it was in lowest in total volume in this region. Bhutan was in the second position with 3.79 kg and Sri Lanka ranked third, generating 3.57 kg. Furthermore, per capita generations by India, Pakistan and Bangladesh were 2.25, 1.68 and 1.19 kg respectively, in contrast to their total generation. Nepal and Afghanistan were comparatively minor e-waste generators, 0.023 and 0.018 MMT, and per capita, 0.76 and 0.58 kg, respectively ( Figure 5).

Impacts of E-waste
Electrical and electronic goods contain a variety of metals, many of which are toxic to humans and ecosystems. More than 60% of e-waste consists of these different metal ions and about 2.7% are toxic metals. 4 The proper management (collecting, storage, recycling, disposing) of these wastes is important because of hazardous chemicals in the waste such as aluminum (Al), arsenic (As), bismuth (Bi), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), mercury (Hg), nickel (Ni), lead (Pb) and antimony (Sb). Furthermore, the combustion of these e-wastes releases polycyclic

Figure 3 -Total and per capita e-waste generation by region in 2012
Hossain, Al-Hamadani, Rahman The adverse impacts of e-waste on humans and ecosystems is also crucial in South Asian countries undergoing rapid economic growth, lifestyle change, socio-technical transition and transformation, which is in complete contrast to their lack of effective waste management tools. For example, in Bangladesh, only between 20% to 30% of the 3.2 MT generated e-waste each year is recycled and the rest is dumped in landfills. 41 There are about 120,000 poor urban people involved in the informal e-waste trade chain in Dhaka, of which 50,000 are children. 42,30 The Environment and Social Development Organization(ESDO) report found that the lack of an efficient e-waste management system in Bangladesh was the cause of death for approximately 15% of the illegal child laborers employed in this sector, and 83% were found to be exposed to long term health problems. 8 Furthermore, Chowdhury et al. found that 36.3% of 1,000 women living near the informal recycling sites experienced stillbirths in the Sylhet region of Bangladesh and 64% had hearing and/or vision

Figure 5 -Per capita e-waste generation in South Asian countries in 2012
Hossain, Al-Hamadani, Rahman Commentary problems. 43 In India, more than 1 million poor people are involved in e-waste handling. 44 In addition to these statistics, 50,000 tons of e-waste is dumped in landfills annually, ultimately contaminating the Lyari and Arabian Seas and adversely affecting marine ecosystems. 17

Discussion
The global community has converged to prioritize sustainability for all developmental activities by integrating societal, economic, environmental, technological, cultural, and gender perspectives. Accordingly, this global convergence has been working towards protecting the environment from the deterioration that occurs with rising living standards. In this vein, multilateral negotiations and cooperation play pivotal roles in the establishment of sustainable development. The ongoing emphasis on e-waste management along with other important environmental issues such as climate change and resource depletion and degradation are the most promising initiatives to achieve long-term sustainability. The rapid global economic development of recent years is leading to sociotechnical transformations and changing lifestyles. Consequently, large quantities of electronic and electrical appliances are being produced, and will eventually become e-waste.
These products present a significant global challenge due to the hazardous chemicals they contain, their highly technical recycling requirements and the high overhead and costs of environmentally sound management, as well as their adverse impacts to human health. Low-income countries bear the greatest burden of adverse health hazards such as asthmatic bronchitis, DNA damage, endocrine and hormone disorders, lung and liver cancers, fertility problems, genetic mutations, etc. Although high-income countries are the main sources of this waste, low-income countries are experiencing an increase in e-waste due to the shifting process of both recently produced and UEEE, as well cheap management overhead costs. In the case of India, for instance, it generates its own e-waste as well as imports waste from high income countries, and is presently the second biggest e-waste processing country. 34

Conclusions
The increasing global trend of e-waste generation has come up as one of the major environmental problems and challenges for achieving sustainable development. Considering its adverse potential eco-toxicological impacts and diverse health effects, an urgent global multilateral agreement is needed addressing e-waste handling, storage, transportation, recycling, and final disposal of any residual waste, whether by land filling or incineration. As it is a global issue from the pollutant production and transportation perspectives, multinational negotiation as well collaboration is realistically the only way to achieve sustainable development goals. Formal consecutive inventory initiatives are needed in vulnerable countries such as those in developing countries in South Asia. In addition, there is a need to develop health prevention strategies focusing on e-waste by addressing susceptible groups, i.e., children, pregnant women, and socio-economically disadvantaged communities. It is also necessary to determine if there are any knowledge gaps and awareness training needs from the top to the bottom Commentary level. Sustainable management techniques could be included in policy implementation with a focus on knowledge and awareness building. Furthermore, economic, environmental and technological cooperation could be bolstered among the high-income producer and supplier countries of e-waste and those adversely affected by it, especially low-income countries.
Comprehensive global e-waste management and policies could help to offset the hazards of e-waste and are the best approach for achieving sustainable development.