E-waste is one of the fastest growing types of waste being disposed of in the EU (currently over 8 million tonnes and growing). If it is not disposed of correctly it can lead to health problems, and raw materials can be lost if it is not recycled correctly. In developing countries, e-waste is even sometimes dismantled by hand by children for scrap exposing them to potentially fatal chemicals.
Old mobile phones can be a big contributor to e-waste. Karl-Heinz Florenz of the centre right European People’s Party said: “we lose a lot of raw material because a lot of electronic waste is illegally shipped out of Europe. For example, 1 million mobiles contain: 250 kg silver, 24 kg gold, 9 kg palladium, and 9 tonnes of copper”.
Currently in Lithuania only 33% of the waste is collected and properly treated. New legislation has just been introduced aimed at tightening existing rules on collection and treatment. Their goal is that within six years 85% of all waste will be recovered and treated.
Currently operations in different parts of Europe vary so it is planned that European-wide standards for collection, treatment and recycling of waste are established.
Consumers can also play their part by recycling their old electronics. Mr Florenz said recycling will now be made easier: “consumers will now be able to deposit very small appliances like mobile phones… at any retail shop, without the requirement to buy a new product. These small products often end up in the waste bin, because consumers are not willing to go to a collection point just for an MP3 Player,”.