Jakarta (ANTARA News) – As a result of the soaring demand and use of gadgets, between 2010-2015 electronic waste, which is usually called e-waste also jumped 63 percent in East Asia and Southeast Asia, concluded a report compiled by the UN University, on the New Scientist page.
E-waste is a term for electrical or electronic items that are no longer used.
If not recycled or disposed of carefully, they are often burned or washed in acid to extract the copper and other metals within.
It turns out that this step can pollute water and air, which can then cause cancer and unhappiness in workers who are exposed to the smoke.
Researchers have studied generations e-waste in 12 countries in Southeast Asia and East Asia, including China, where the volume of electronic waste has increased sharply in the past five years.
The researchers looked at the factors that increased it e-wastewhich includes the increase in gadget products on the market, the rise of the middle class who can buy more than one gadget, and the rapid turnover gadgets due to rapid changes in high technology and lifestyle.
“More and more gadgets and toys are plug- or battery-powered, and this all contributes greatly to the increase in numbers e-waste,” said Ruediger Kuehr, head of the study.
As Asia produces volume e-waste biggest in the world, trash e-waste in Europe and America it reaches four times their per capita.
A large number of e-waste in Western countries it has been exported to poor countries thereby increasing electronic waste in poor countries, even though most of these countries lack safe and clean infrastructure for recycling.
Editor: Jafar M Sidik
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