Citizenship E-WASTE: A GLOBAL PROBLEM The growing use of electronic devices and electrical equipment generates a great amount of waste, called electronic or e-waste, which is becoming one of the biggest problems in the world. Why is e-waste a growing problem? There are two main reasons why the problem of e-waste is increasing: electronic devices are updated very fast: manufacturing companies produce new models of smartphones, tablets and PC almost every year, therefore a great number of devices (together with chargers, earphones and accessories) are discarded to be replaced by the newest model; the life of appliances is becoming shorter and shorter: appliances tend to break down within five years from their purchase; the phenomenon by which devices and appliances are designed to last for a set period, after which they will stop working, is called built-in obsolescence. 10 recycling of e-waste posted by IMU Cares Why is e-waste dangerous? E-waste has negative effects on: the air: when it is disposed of in a wrong way, e.g. breaking it into pieces or burning it, it releases toxic particles which cause pollution and respiratory problems; the soil and water: when e-waste is thrown in landfills or in places where it is dumped illegally, the substances contained in the waste can leak into the soil, causing contamination of crops and underlying water. What can we do to help? There are some good habits which we can adopt to reduce the impact of e-waste on the environment: electronic waste must be disposed of in dedicated areas, where all the components must be properly separated and recycled in the correct way; we can repair faulty appliances or electronic devices; we can take the old devices which are still functioning to specialised centres in order to be refurbished and re-used. Watch this video and answer the questions. 1. What type of appliances shown in the video are considered e-waste? 2. How much e-waste is disposed of in the world every year? 3. What are the risks of e-waste for the environment? 4. What is the correct way of disposing of e-waste? 5. Name at least three of the harmful substances mentioned in the video. 6. How is e-waste treated in recycling centres? 7. How are non-metal parts recycled? 8. How are metal parts recycled? 11 What type of electronic waste do you and your family produce most? 12 Pair WorK have you ever heard the expression circular economy ? can you explain what it is? built-in obsolescence: obsolescenza programmata to dump: scaricare landfill: discarica to refurbish: ricondizionare underlying water: falde acquifere 118 elecTroNics Elettronica-Informatica.indb 118 25/01/24 16:08