Blog 3: “E-waste: An assessment of global production and environmental impacts”, B.H. Robinson

In “E-waste: An assessment of global production and environmental impacts”, B.H. Robinson attempts to “assess the global production of E-waste, the contaminants and contaminant fluxes associated with E-waste, and the likely environmental impact of E-waste associated contaminants”. In other words, Robinson takes a social stand point and attempts to explain the impacts of E-waste caused by society and what the consequences against society will be. Robinson starts his review by displaying the world’s production of E-waste. He calculates that by 2015 E-waste will reach a volume of 9.8 million tons. That is only 8% of total municipal waste, but that 9.8 million tons is important because it is nearly double the projected 5.5 million tons for 2010. The review continues on and explains the effect of E-waste on many aspects of the environment, using a case study on Guiyu, a city in China, and other E-waste recycling centers. The results of the case study showed negative effects from E-waste on the aquatic systems, air, soils, and humans themselves. E-waste contaminants enter the water near dumpsites, escape into the air as dust, and into soil by leaking through the ground under dump sites. These contaminants contain many different chemicals that can affect the ecosystems as well as the inhabitants of the regions around dumpsites and recycling plants.

This article was absolutely shocking! Its obvious that the author was looking for society to react to this negatively. I can tell that he used this study to show to people that e-waste is a major issues not only in the U.S. but all over the world. My question is though, why doesn't he explain how we can fix this huge problem.

E-waste: An assessment of global production and environmental impacts