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Electronic waste expected to rise by 21% in 2018

electronic wasteA new report to be published by the University of Limerick will highlight the quantities of e-waste being generated in the country over the next five years.

This week the University of Limerick and United Nations University, Tokyo, Japan are collaborating and hosting one of the world’s leading forums on electronic waste issues, E-Waste Academy for Scientists (EWAS). It will bring together researchers from around the globe to work on eliminating damage to human health and the environment from the devastating effects of e-waste.

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UL hosts the summit that runs until Saturday. On Friday 19th August a major report conducted by the University of Limerick for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) projecting the quantities of e-waste being generated in Ireland over the next five years will be launched.

One of the key findings of this report is that the age of the products that are currently being returned for recycling remains high. So called Historic, Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE), or products that were placed on the market before the WEEE Directive came into force in 2005, still make up over 50% of the material being returned for recycling in Ireland. This has implications for the financing of e-waste recycling which is currently partly funded by the visible Environmental Management Cost at the time of purchase and partly by producers.

Latest figures released by the United Nations University estimates that there were 41.8 million metric tonnes generated globally in 2014 and this is expected to rise by 21% to 50 million tonnes by 2018. Less than one-sixth of this is thought to have been diverted to proper recycling and reuse. This e-waste contained an estimated 16.5 million tonnes of iron, 1.9 million tonnes of copper, 300 tonnes of gold (equal to 11% of the world’s total 2013 gold production), as well as silver, aluminum, palladium plastic and other resources with a combined estimated value of 48 billion Euro.

Toxins in that e-waste included 2.2 million tonnes of lead glass, 0.3 million tonnes of batteries, as well as mercury, cadmium, chromium and 4,400 tonnes of ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbon (CFCs). Health problems associated with such toxins include impaired mental development, cancer, and damage to liver and kidneys.

Speaking at the summit Dr Colin Fitzpatrick, Department of Electronic & Computer Engineering, UL said, “While the ever increasing use of technology in society is providing tremendous benefits to people’s lives and is set to grow on a global scale for the foreseeable future, it is producing some very challenging issues around e-waste that are being generated as a result.”

Deepali Sinha Khetriwal from the United Nations University commented, “This is the sixth E-waste Academy for Scientists and since the very first one in 2009, we see the immense value and endurance of the personal and professional networks built during an EWAS. Many EWAS alumni continue to work in the field of e-waste and apply what they have learnt at the Academy in their research and professional domains. After previous Academies in China, Netherlands, Belgium and Switzerland, we are very glad to bring the EWAS to Ireland and have the opportunity to explore the Irish WEEE management system.”

In an effort to tackle this global issue, the University of Limerick and the United Nations University hope to develop a roadmap for how the principals of “circular economy”, where resources become part of continuous useful cycles, can be applied to technology and what this might mean for product and service system design and waste policy in the future. The overall ambition is to turn the e-waste problem into an opportunity to create new sources of raw materials, employment opportunities while eliminating damage to the environment and human health.

The E-Waste Academy for Scientists is sponsored by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Department of Communications, Climate Action & Environment, European Recycling Platform (ERP) and Dell.

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