Promotion of a Circular Economy for Electronics

The urgent need to create a circular economy for electronics has become increasingly pressing in response to increasing environmental concerns. In the last decades, the prevailing linear "take-make-dispose" consumption and production model has been heavily criticized for its enormous contribution to environmental deterioration, especially mounting electronic waste (e-waste) accumulation. The idea of a circular economy offers an alluring solution, encouraging reuse, repair, and recycling of materials to drastically reduce waste and environmental footprint. It seeks to end the connection between economic growth and resource consumption, creating a more robust and sustainable economic system.

The scale of the e-waste issue is overwhelming. A seminal report by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation identified that "more than 50 million tons of e-waste are generated every year, and this is expected to more than double to 120 million tons by 2050". This doubling is driven by the uncontrolled proliferation of electronic products, combined with more short-lived product lifespans due to planned obsolescence and exceedingly fast technological advancements. The root causes of the issue are multifaceted but mostly a result of the dominant linear model, where convenience and speed often come at the expense of sustainability considerations. Furthermore, the lack of robust incentives and universal infrastructure for recycling and reuse, coupled with weak policy and enforcement, significantly feeds the issue.

The consequences of the linear production and consumption model are immense and multi-scaled. While it has certainly fueled economic growth and incited technical development, it has also enabled monstrous environmental destruction, of which e-waste is one of the principal aspects. In addition to this, it perpetuates social injustice, establishing a very complicated system of ethics and social concerns. For instance, the recycling of e-waste informally in Ghana is now a vital source of sustenance for many individuals. Nevertheless, this sector exposes laborers to the risk of being exposed to poisonous chemicals, which cause serious health complications, as testified by Lepawsky (2014). Similarly, the exportation of e-waste from industrialized nations, such as America, to developing nations, such as China and others, has resulted in environmental injustice, where the poor have been subjected to dumping, according to Grant (2018).

The case of e-waste in India is a very distressful one. According to a Central Pollution Control Board report, "India generates about 2 million tons of e-waste annually and it was expected to reach 5.2 million tons in the year 2020". The lack of suitable recycling and disposal facilities and poor measures for enforcement serve to increase the problem further, to a very great extent. Nevertheless, encouraging signs of progress can be discerned. The government of India has taken several steps to implement a circular economy, including the introduction of the E-Waste Management Rules in 2016. The producers, according to these rules, have to collect and dispose of e-waste in an environmentally friendly way, thereby passing on some of the responsibility to the producers. However, stricter and more holistic measures are required to meet effectively the enormous amounts of e-waste produced, including investment in appropriate recycling plants, public awareness, and stronger enforcement measures.

Sources:

Ellen MacArthur Foundation. (2019). Completing the picture: How the circular economy tackles climate change. Ellen MacArthur Foundation.

Grant, K. (2018). The global impact of e-waste: Addressing the challenge. Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, 74(5), 326-330.

Lepawsky, J. (2014). The changing geography of global trade in electronic discards: Time to rethink the e-waste problem. The Geographical Journal, 180(2), 147-159.

Central Pollution Control Board. (2018). E-waste management. Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.