Singapore faces growing mountain of e-waste

IN THE 10 minutes you take to read this article, roughly 1,141 kilograms of electrical and electronic items would have been thrown away by people and companies across Singapore.

In a year, this figure balloons to around 60,000 tonnes of e-waste, going by figures from the National Environment Agency (NEA).

A study by global think tank United Nations University estimates that about 109,000 tonnes of e-waste was generated here in 2014, making Singapore the second-largest generator of e-waste in the region, second only to Hong Kong.

Acknowledging Singapore’s growing mountain of e-waste, the government is mulling over implementing regulations to ensure that discarded items, ranging from refrigerators and washing machines to televisions and mobile phones, are recycled and reused.

All e-waste contains small amounts of hazardous materials, ranging from heavy metals such as lead found in TVs and mercury in batteries, to ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbons and hydrochlorofluorocarbons found in refrigerators.

Many people simply throw these items down the chute, or leave them at rubbish bins and bin centres, so they are unlikely to come into direct contact with these harmful substances.

But such items often end up in the hands of scrap traders and rag-and-bone men, who lack the skills to recycle them safely and may unknowingly discharge chemical compounds which are harmful to both their health and the environment.

Long-term exposure to these compounds can affect the nervous system, kidneys, bones, hormonal balance and reproductive system.

The chemicals are also not biodegradable and can persist in the environment for long periods of time.

For Singapore to truly boost its e-waste recycling rates, the buy-in from consumers is needed.

Consumers also need to vote with their wallets, said Arthur Huang, founder of Miniwiz, a Taiwan-based upcycling company that has created 1,200 new materials from trash including e-waste. These materials can be used to create clothes and even sunglasses,as well as in buildings.

“In the end, it is the market that decides what product can be made. If you don’t buy, those products [made from recycled materials] will never be made,” he said.