Economic Growth and E-waste Management: A Global Concern

We are in a technology age, where technological development replaces the old life patterns of society with new fast, effective and efficient life patterns, but development is not free, as it becomes clear that technological revolution is leading to environmental degradation and serious health hazards. Whereas without technology it is not possible to do any business efficiently. We are extremely dependent on technology, be it simple day-to-day activities or complex business management, we need the help of technology.

New technology gives us new opportunities for economic development. The question here is how many of us buy new technology for a need and how many of us buy it for a luxury. In the present situation, the inherent meaning of the upper class in the society is a life of luxury. The standard of living depends on how much wealth a person has. If the sole purpose of buying electronic gadgets is only to upgrade with the latest generation devices, it clearly shows that the society is buying electronic equipment only for luxury and not out of necessity. As we can see, the higher the demand, the less life cycle products are produced and supplied, resulting in an increase in electronic waste.

 

After use, disposal of EEE generates waste that contains hazardous and valuable materials, waste and used EEE is called e-waste. Improper management of electronic waste is extremely harmful not only to health but also to the environment. Thus, the major reason for e-waste is the high level of disposable income, urbanization, mobility and industrialization resulting in high consumption rate of EEE on short life cycle products, most importantly, there are very few repair options, leading to the need for new Purchase is going on. Similar short life products.

 

Remote Work and E-waste

In the age of technology, most of the work is done remotely. There is a perception that remote working will lead to more purchases of electronic equipment, resulting in excess e-waste. However, as far as companies are concerned, even if they are bound to follow Corporate Social Responsibility, there are only a few organizations that perform systematically, most organizations and companies do not take responsibility for the e-waste generated by them. Huh. , They are either dumped in destroy shops or dumped in unspecified landfills. As far as systematic recycling management is concerned, whether the work is done remotely or done personally by the employee, there is not much difference. The other significant barrier to reuse is the risk of data breaches, primarily for recycling electronic devices such as computers, laptops and smartphones, and other data storage devices. The data has to be deleted without a trace before it is ready for reuse and recycling, a process that requires financial support if it is carried out in an organization on a large scale. E-waste is not completely removable, but it requires systematic recycling and proper investment from the government along with productive side.