Electronic Devices Outnumber Humans & Trigger a Surge in E-Waste

By Thalif DeenUNITED NATIONS, Jan 24 2019 (IPS)The widespread innovations in modern digital technology have a devastating downside to it: the accumulation of over 50 million tonnes of electronics waste (e-waste) globally every year. And that’s greater in weight than all of the world’s commercial airliners ever made, or enough Eiffel Towers to fill the borough of Manhattan in New York city, warns a new report released at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, January 24.Currently only 20% of e-waste—including desktop computers, cell phones, laptops, television sets, printers and a wide variety of household electrical appliances– is formally recycled.If nothing changes, the United Nations University (UNU), one of the authors of the report, predicts e-waste could nearly triple to nearly 120 million tonnes by 2050.The study says it is difficult to gauge how many electrical goods are produced annually, but just taking account of devices connected to the internet, they now number many more than humans, whose total world population now stands at over 7.7 billion.The joint report, titled “A New Circular Vision for Electronics – Time for a Global Reboot“, and backed by seven UN agencies, points out that rapid innovation and lowering costs have dramatically increased access to electronic products and digital technology, with many benefits.This has led to an increase in the use of electronic devices and equipment. And the unintended consequence of this is...

Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - January 24, 2019 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Thalif Deen Tags: Featured Global Headlines Health IPS UN: Inside the Glasshouse Poverty & SDGs TerraViva United Nations Source Type: news