Malaysians are dumping more and more electronic waste daily, which has the potential to contaminate the ground and water with hazardous material. – The Malaysian Insider file pic, March 14, 2016.Malaysians can no longer underestimate the hazardous nature of electronic waste or e-waste that makes up an increasing chunk of the 30,000 tonnes of solid waste produced everyday.
An Asia e-waste project study conducted in 2009 by the Japan-based Asian Network for Prevention of Illegal Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Waste predicted that by 2017, some 25,000 units of rechargeable mobile phone batteries would be dumped per year, with the number expected to rise.
The second highest e-waste category was mobile phones, followed by personal computers, and television sets.
E-waste generally comprises of all electronic items including refrigerators, air conditioners, washing machines, cables and fluorescent lamps.
Universiti Kuala Lumpur (UniKL) lecturer and researcher Zaipul Anwar told The Malaysian Insider that in 2013, Malaysians produced 800,000 tonnes of e-waste, and this was forecasted to increase by at least 5.5% each year.
“By the year 2020, we will be producing 1.1 million tonnes of e-waste,” he said, adding that household waste was a challenge.
“Licensed contractors from the Department of Environment mostly collect e-waste from industrial facilities in a regulated manner. However, there is no proper collection system and regulation for households,” he said.
Zaipul, who is also a PhD candidate at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), added that e-waste generated by households often end up in landfills and may contaminate the ground and water with hazardous material.
“When e-waste ends up at landfills, the recyclable metal components have the potential to leach out into landfills and become a source of pollution,” he said.
“It is a waste for us not to recycle materials that can be reused or refurbished in an environmentally-sound manner. If not, we will be facing a new type of pollution and it will create problems for the future generation," he said.
"It is high time that the government and society look into this matter carefully,” he said, adding that the government could take back e-waste from households to combat the problem. – March 14, 2016.
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