Proper disposal urgently necessary to save lives

Abdul Khaleque Khandker: E-waste is increasing alarmingly in the country. The use of technology has increased 30-40 times in the last 10 years. The technological materials are thrown away into the dustbins. As a result, those materials are mixing with the soil. It has been found in a research that 4 lac tons e waste is being produced in the country every year. The amount of this e waste will be 12 lac tons in 2023, it is also learnt. If the proper disposal of this waste is not taken right now, there will be a great hazard in the days to come due e waste, experts opine.

In the meantime, a few small organizations have started recycling of e waste, but if the recycling process is not taken at a big scale, the crisis will be more acute in future, the experts further apprehend.

Not only Bangladesh, other Asian countries are also in peril in respect of e waste. Everyday health hazard and environmental pollution are increasing because of e waste. But to overcome this peril, proper disposal and appropriate recycling of e waste is a must, many experts in this field strongly suggest.

The united national university last year launched a survey and published a report on the e waste of the Asia. In that report it was found that, from 2010-2015 during five years, the amount of e waste increased 63% in Asia. Carrying survey on 12 countries, they found the amount of e waste was 1 crore and 23 lakh tons by these five years. Of these countries the situation in China is terrible. The amount of their e waste has increased more than two times to 66 lac and 81 thousand tons, which is a matter of anxiety for the entire Asia, these are again known from the related sources of the ministries of BRTC and Telecommunications. From the report it is also said, with the development of the economy, and as the buying capacity of people has increased, the amount of e waste has also increased, and now it has become a big challenge for its proper disposal at the present time of technological age.

The burgeoning e waste is causing abrupt climatic change the world over, and Bangladesh is facing the brunt of it, think the world ecologists when they carried out a survey on the global warming. The survey having over, they predicted a dreadful apprehension as saying, the southern regions of Bangladesh may go under sea water permanently because global warming.

To minimize the e waste hazard, some recommendations have also been suggested. These are: Electronic materials should have options that those can be reused recycled easily so that after their being used they are not easily thrown away. The chargers of the mobiles or other electronic materials should be made in such a way that, by using one charger, many devices can be charged with the same charger. The recycling and reusing of the same devices should be made easy and popular. E waste management team must be trained in a modern way and appropriately so that all hazards related to e waste can be dealt with in an environment friendly way. Moreover, awareness about the harmful effects of e waste must be acquainted among people from all walks of life, it further suggested.