41
The United Nations reports that a record level of waste electrical and electronic
equipment, amounting to 41.8 million tons worldwide, was thrown away in 2014,
with less than one-sixth of it being properly recycled (Baldé et al. 2015, page 24). It
was the largest amount ever of Electronic-waste that was discarded, and there is
little sign of a slowdown. Even countries that have recycling and recovery programs
including Japan discard large amounts of waste electrical and electronic
equipment.
The largest amount of Electronic-waste was generated in the United States and
China, which together accounted for 32% of the total. The third most wasteful country by volume was Japan, which discarded a grand total of 2.2 million tons in 2013
(Japan Times, 2015, May 9).
Even though Japan’s per capita waste, 17.3 kg per inhabitant, was lower than
some less densely populated countries, other countries, such as those in Africa, had
much lower amounts of Electronic-waste. Africa’s average was 1.7 kg per person,
one-tenth the amount of the waste generated by the average Japanese.
This kind of refuse is dangerous and often highly toxic. The refrigerators, washing machines, and microwave ovens routinely discarded contain large amounts of
lead glass, batteries, mercury, cadmium, chromium, and other ozone-depleting
chlorofluorocarbons (often termed as “CFCs”). The 7% of Electronic-waste last
year made up of mobile phones, calculators, personal computers, printers, and small
information technology equipment also contained poisonous components.
Electronic-waste last year also contained valuable resources worth $52 billion, only a quarter of which was recovered. Worldwide, an estimated 16.5 million tons of iron, 1.9 million tons of copper, 300 tons of gold (equal to 11% of the
world’s total gold production in 2013), as well as silver, aluminum, and palladium plastic were simply thrown out. With better recovery systems, those
resources wouldn’t end up in dumps, increasingly located in poorer countries, but
would be recycled.
Japan was one of the first countries to impose recycling of Electronic-waste,
and the Japanese system is thought to be better than in many countries. However,
Japan still only treats around 24–30% of its Electronic-waste, the report estimated.
The Japanese government reported that 556,000 tons of Electronic-waste was
collected and treated in Japan in 2013, but that still only accounts for one-quarter
of the total.
The convenience people have sought in the kitchen, laundry, and bathroom, and
for daily communication, has become the world’s noxious waste. With rising sales
and shorter life cycles for products, the Electronic-waste problem is not likely to
improve anytime soon.
Individuals should make sure that their disposal of even small gadgets is handled
correctly. Governments around the world, including Japan, need to impose stricter
rules, establish better disposal and recycling systems, and increase oversight.
One of the main reasons that per capita Electronic-waste generally grows over
time is that per capita Electronic-waste increases with per capita gross domestic
product (typically termed as “GDP”). Kusch and Hills (2017) present evidence that
there is a positive correlation between these two quantities observed cross- sectionally
3 An Economic Assessment of Present and Future Electronic-Waste Streams: Japan’s…
The United Nations reports that a record level of waste electrical and electronic
equipment, amounting to 41.8 million tons worldwide, was thrown away in 2014,
with less than one-sixth of it being properly recycled (Baldé et al. 2015, page 24). It
was the largest amount ever of Electronic-waste that was discarded, and there is
little sign of a slowdown. Even countries that have recycling and recovery programs
including Japan discard large amounts of waste electrical and electronic
equipment.
The largest amount of Electronic-waste was generated in the United States and
China, which together accounted for 32% of the total. The third most wasteful country by volume was Japan, which discarded a grand total of 2.2 million tons in 2013
(Japan Times, 2015, May 9).
Even though Japan’s per capita waste, 17.3 kg per inhabitant, was lower than
some less densely populated countries, other countries, such as those in Africa, had
much lower amounts of Electronic-waste. Africa’s average was 1.7 kg per person,
one-tenth the amount of the waste generated by the average Japanese.
This kind of refuse is dangerous and often highly toxic. The refrigerators, washing machines, and microwave ovens routinely discarded contain large amounts of
lead glass, batteries, mercury, cadmium, chromium, and other ozone-depleting
chlorofluorocarbons (often termed as “CFCs”). The 7% of Electronic-waste last
year made up of mobile phones, calculators, personal computers, printers, and small
information technology equipment also contained poisonous components.
Electronic-waste last year also contained valuable resources worth $52 billion, only a quarter of which was recovered. Worldwide, an estimated 16.5 million tons of iron, 1.9 million tons of copper, 300 tons of gold (equal to 11% of the
world’s total gold production in 2013), as well as silver, aluminum, and palladium plastic were simply thrown out. With better recovery systems, those
resources wouldn’t end up in dumps, increasingly located in poorer countries, but
would be recycled.
Japan was one of the first countries to impose recycling of Electronic-waste,
and the Japanese system is thought to be better than in many countries. However,
Japan still only treats around 24–30% of its Electronic-waste, the report estimated.
The Japanese government reported that 556,000 tons of Electronic-waste was
collected and treated in Japan in 2013, but that still only accounts for one-quarter
of the total.
The convenience people have sought in the kitchen, laundry, and bathroom, and
for daily communication, has become the world’s noxious waste. With rising sales
and shorter life cycles for products, the Electronic-waste problem is not likely to
improve anytime soon.
Individuals should make sure that their disposal of even small gadgets is handled
correctly. Governments around the world, including Japan, need to impose stricter
rules, establish better disposal and recycling systems, and increase oversight.
One of the main reasons that per capita Electronic-waste generally grows over
time is that per capita Electronic-waste increases with per capita gross domestic
product (typically termed as “GDP”). Kusch and Hills (2017) present evidence that
there is a positive correlation between these two quantities observed cross- sectionally
3 An Economic Assessment of Present and Future Electronic-Waste Streams: Japan’s…