Experience of certain countries in electronic and electric waste management

• Main Authors: N. Kachmar, O. Mazurak, A. Dydiv, T. Bahday
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Stepan Gzhytskyi National University of Veterinary Medicine and Biotechnologies Lviv 2019-04-01
• Series: Науковий вісник Львівського національного університету ветеринарної медицини та біотехнологій імені С.З. Гжицького. Серія: Сільськогосподарські науки
• Subjects: electrical and electronic waste, recycling, experience of countries, dump
• Online Access: https://nvlvet.com.ua/index.php/agriculture/article/view/3719

The paper present result of research concerning the problems of handling electronic and electrical waste that households produce at home and analysed the main problems associated with this issue in Ukraine and in the world. The object of the study was telephones (ukrainians use 53.6 million mobile communication devices), refrigerators, washing machines and TVs. The production of electrical and electronic equipment is one of the fastest growing global manufacturing activities. This development has resulted in an increase of waste electric and electronic equipment which constitute a risk to the environment and sustainable economic growth. Recycling of electronic and electrical waste is very expensive. There is a problem with electronic and electrical waste in Ukraine. To accumulate in the soil or to burn these waste is harmful. Every year on our planet about 50 million tons of electronic waste are generated. It was established that 53% of the interviewed students changed 1 phone in the last three years, 24% – 2 phones and 7% – more than 3. Students wanted a new phone. Most of the phones are at home, and the rest were given to their relatives or thrown into the trash. Ukrainians replace refrigerators, TVs and washing machines less often. Most Ukrainians change refrigerators. The largest amount of electronic waste is produced in Australia, New Zealand and Oceania (17.3 kg per inhabitant), in Europe – 16.6 kg per inhabitant and 11.6 kg waste per inhabitant of North and South America. In Japan, Norway, the Netherlands, Germany, Sweden and Poland, the process of disposal of used home appliances is well organized. However, economically developed countries utilize only part of the waste in their territory, while the rest are exported to landfills in Pakistan, Vietnam, Nigeria. The world's largest dump of electronic and electrical waste is in Ghana. To address potential environmental problems that could stem from improper management of WEEE, many countries and organizations have drafted national legislation to improve the reuse, recycling and other forms of material recovery from WEEE to reduce the amount and types of materials disposed in landfills.