Question

All of us use electronic devices and may replace them from time to time. Some people have been raising the alarm about disposal of these products.

1. What happens to electronic devices that are discarded by consumers? These are tangible physical products. Research this topic to find out where exactly the old computers, tablets, cell phones etc go to. Provide references for your answer. Your response should not be “I threw it in the garbage”, you need to track what happens to the garbage. Are these products bio-degradable? Will they leak chemicals that affect the environment?
2. A related issue is product design. Look up Apple Sales of its iPhone X and other models. Some reports note that iPhone6 etc have worked so well that consumers have been using them for several years and do not see the need to “upgrade” – that is, throw away the old phone and get a new one. While that may not be great for Apple, it might be great for the environment! Should companies design electronic products to last longer? Discuss.

Answer 1

The frequent replacement of the electronic devices might ring in money for producers and bring in novlety for the customers, it affect the environment heavily. The devices discarded by the consumers often contains harmful substances like heavy metals, lead and mercury among other ingredients that are harmful for the environment. The e waste as it is popularly called, is non bio degradable and expensive to recycle and often ends up in landfills and causes threat to the environment by affecting soil, water and air adversely. Very small quantity of it is ever recycled and often ends up in third world countries, severly affecting the environment and the peoples' lives there.

Very few organisations show their concern for environment by desiging the product in such a way so as to discourage frequent changeovers. One such company is Patagonia which actually advices its customers to buy moderately and takes the product back from the user to either recycle it or donate it to charitable organisations, so that it does not find its way into landfills o garbage dumps. Use of bio degradable constituents is another way of helping the cause of environment. However, such companies are very few, and the majority has hardly any concern for the ill effects of electronic waste.