ABU DHABI // Waste from dumped electronic devices poses a threat to groundwater and the food we eat – and the UAE tops a regional table for the amount of “e-waste” produced.
A UN-sponsored project shows the average resident generates 17.2 kilograms of e-waste, which holds toxins such as arsenic, cadmium and mercury. Kuwait residents create the same amount, while Bahrain is next on the list with 16.4kg.
Chemicals from circuit boards or other parts can seep into the soil and find their way into aquifers, also polluting food for which the water is used to grow.
Ken Neil of UAskmE, an e-waste consultancy, said safe disposal options for electronics through recycling and resale were crucial.
“We’re using more electronics each day,” Mr Neil said. “How many phones are just wasting away or being thrown in the bin?
“Those are bad for the environment and people need to know.” E-waste is 10 times more harmful than normal rubbish, he said. Hot weather speeds up degradation of electronics, making the problem even more urgent.
But it’s not all bad news. Enviroserve, a recycling firm, has teamed up with schools to educate tomorrow’s consumers in a programme that includes a “community shred” of devices.
It will also resume leaving and collecting its smartphone recycling boxes.
The UAE has one of the highest internet penetration rates in the world at more than 75 per cent, and more than 78 per cent of residents use smartphones, Emirates NBD said this month.
And residents have on average two mobiles each, the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority has said.
Enviroserve collects 48 tonnes of electronics a day, breaking down the products and separating the recyclable raw materials from the harmful parts that need to be disposed of properly.
“There’s a social point to the environment,” said Stuart Fleming, chief executive of Enviroserve. “It’s very important.
“The environmentalists are concerned for the future of our kids. What are we going to leave as a legacy? Are we going to leave a completely trashed-out world or are we going to try to do something?
“You need that social networking and environmental aspect – do it out of your good heart. “But for recyclers, it’s a business and you’ve got to balance it out, and that is very difficult.”
Enviroserve sends plastic and glass from electronics to be recycled locally, but the UAE has no processing plant for batteries and motherboards.
“So we send that across to Singapore, where there is a factory that takes that motherboard, crushes it up, does all sorts of things to it and out pours gold, silver and palladium,” Mr Fleming said.
With consumers trading in old gadgets for new each year, the amount of e-waste has increased.
“We started a campaign with Etisalat in 2007, where we would have boxes where you disposed of your electronic phones and we’d pick them up,” Mr Fleming said.
Robin Dawson, sales development manager at Enviroserve, will begin the awareness campaign for schools by demonstrating what the company does.
“The ‘Community Shred’ will be at the school and gives us the chance to combine the important and related issues of e-waste recycling and data security,” Ms Dawson said.
The shredding will be done on site so pupils can see recycling in action.
nalwasmi@thenational.ae
