Bangladesh faces a significant challenge with the generation of 3 million tonnes of e-waste each year, posing a grave threat to the country's biodiversity.
According to data, e-waste contains hazardous elements such as lead, mercury, copper, cadmium, chromium, and arsenic, as well as valuable metals like gold and silver.
Despite the potential to earn approximately $1.3 billion through the recycling of 1 crore tonnes of e-waste, the lack of developed institutional structures for collection and recycling has led to widespread environmental contamination.
As a consequence, not only are valuable resources going to waste, but the presence of harmful heavy metals and chemicals is polluting soil, water, and air, further exacerbating health risks. Experts warn of increasing incidences of lung cancer, kidney, liver, respiratory, heart, and brain diseases due to exposure to e-waste pollution.
While the government introduced 'e-waste management rules' in 2021 to mitigate these risks, implementation has lagged over the past two years. The Aminbazar landfill, serving as the primary disposal site for most of Dhaka North City Corporation's waste, poses particular concerns.
Alongside organic and plastic waste, e-waste is deposited in landfills bordered by rivers on three sides. Observations on the ground reveal that toxic leachate from the landfill directly contaminates river water.
Hriday Roy, a lecturer in the chemical engineering department of BUET, is researching the dangers of e-waste. He revealed alarming findings, with water samples collected from the Aminbazar landfill showing lead levels at 8.94 ppm, nearly 90 times higher than recommended guidelines. Elevated concentrations of cadmium and mercury were also detected, posing a severe threat to both river biodiversity and human health.
He emphasized the urgent need to prevent the contamination of groundwater, which could have dire consequences for communities reliant on it.
The electronic product market in the country has grown three times in the last decade to Tk 11 lakh crore. About 3 million tons of e-waste is generated annually from these electronic products.
About 1 lakh 70 thousand tons of e-waste is generated from this. Millions of mobile phones are thrown away due to damage or model change. One and a half million tons of e-waste is generated from smart devices alone. Countless electronic products including refrigerators, ovens, batteries, computers, solar panels, and chargers are being added to the cancellation list every day. This waste is increasing at a rate of 30 percent every year.
In 2018, according to the report of the Department of Environment, 3 percent of the e-waste produced in the country is recycled, and 97 percent is disposed of.
Meanwhile, a study published in the scientific journal Science Directory showed that a ton of mobile phones contains 53 kg of copper, 141 grams of gold, 270 grams of silver, 10 grams of platinum, and 18 grams of palladium, along with other metals. One ton of PCB (Printed Circuit Board) contains 678 grams of gold, 1100 grams of silver, 278 kg of copper, 38 grams of platinum, and 98 grams of palladium.
If this e-waste can be collected and processed through modern technology, a huge amount of money can be earned besides preventing environmental pollution.
However, despite the establishment of three waste recycling factories in the country, they are unable to operate due to a lack of sufficient raw materials.
Manjur Hasan, general manager of a private e-waste management company called JR Recycling Solutions near Aminbazar, said that the price of one kg of e-waste is more than one dollar. But, no chain of collection of these has been developed either government or private. Hence the lack of raw materials. Some waste is collected in an unprofessional manner. Precious metals are separated from them by conventional acid method and burning methods. It causes environmental pollution. The cost is also high. Those who manually separate the gold from these chemicals also face various physical problems.
Ahmed Swapan Mahmud, executive director of VOICE, a private organization that has been working on e-waste for a long time, said that due to a lack of recycling, e-waste is increasing at an alarming rate in Bangladesh. The Department of Environment has made a law, but neither the companies nor the people know it. No other NGO or private organization is even talking about it. If you don't take action on the matter now, it will cause great damage.
(The report was published on print and online versions of The Bangladesh Pratidin on January 28 and rewritten in English by Tanvir Raihan)
