[INFORMATIVE] Urban Mining: A Solution to E-Waste

Urban Mining: A Solution to E-Waste

By Eddie Li

What is E-waste, & What are its Implications?
Electronic waste, or e-waste, is comprised of discarded electrical and electronic devices that are no longer useful. Common e-waste includes mobile phones, computers, household appliances, and medical equipment.

E-waste contains valuable resources that can be reused, which is why people living in low- and middle-income communities, particularly in Asia, rely on e-waste streams as a source of income. However, they face significant health risks from e-waste exposure due to an absence of appropriate regulations, recycling facilities, and training. E-waste consists of 1000 different chemical substances, including dangerous neurotoxicants such as lead, dioxin, and mercury, and may be released if e-waste undergoes inappropriate treatment and recycling. As a result, pregnant women and children experience greater health risks. Pregnant women may face increased rates of stillbirth and premature birth. Children may be affected in their neurodevelopment (associated with lead) and experience reduced respiratory function and increased risks of asthma.

Exposure to the threats of e-waste may be a result of the following inappropriate practices: dumping on land or in water, landfilling with normal waste, heating or burning, acid leaching, and manual disassembly of equipment. Heating or burning is a particularly hazardous activity due to the production of toxic fumes, which can travel significant distances once in the air and the environment to affect people in areas further away.

Today, the quantity of e-waste is increasing 3 times faster than the world’s population. In 2019, less than ¼ of the e-waste produced globally was recorded to be formally recycled. Furthermore, in 2022, 62 million tonnes of e-waste was produced, which is 82% higher than in 2010. It is predicted to increase by 32% to 82 million tonnes in 2030. Yet, countries deal with their e-waste by exporting significant amounts of streams to developing areas, where there is an absence of established waste management systems and regulations. Globally, the top exporters of e-waste are France, Germany, and the UK. Upon considering the fast advancement of technology, consumer demand for electronics, and shorter product life cycles, e-waste is becoming increasingly a concern of the environment and human health.

International Response
As an international response, the Basel Convention is a comprehensive international environmental agreement that aims to solve issues surrounding hazardous waste, which includes e-waste and its management, identified as WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment). Its efforts include coordinating programs and workshops to develop guidance on environmentally appropriate e-waste management and regulating the exportation of hazardous waste, including e-waste. In 2019, the Ban Amendment was put into action, wherein countries of the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) and the European Commission are prohibited from exporting hazardous waste, including e-waste. Regional conventions, such as the Bamako Convention and the Waigani Convention, have been established as a result of the Basel Convention, which also aims to further prohibit the exportation of hazardous waste in African and South Pacific countries respectively.

The issue of e-waste has also prompted a response from WHO (World Health Organization). It has launched an Initiative on E-waste and Child Health, which is contributing to international e-waste programs and pilot projects developing schemes to protect children’s health from exposure to e-waste in Latin America and Africa. It is also developing training tools in health, such as an updated training package created for healthcare providers, which includes a specific training module about lead as well as e-waste and child health, and contributing to other training tools such as MOOC (The E-Waste Challenge Massive Open Online Course) and a course with PAHO (Pan American Health Organization).

What is Urban Mining, & How Can it Solve Problems of E-waste?
Urban mines are secondary mines where valuable precious metals and nanometals contained in electronics are recovered, which is in contrast to primary mines, where resources are exploited directly from the Earth. Bettering the urban mining of electronic devices can reduce the high environmental complications of mining and also provide an alternative resource that could address the reduction in mining facilities while helping to solve the issue of e-waste. As a matter of fact, recycling is more energy efficient than mining for some metals. For example, aluminum obtained through urban mining requires 10-15 times less energy than primary mining and production. These recyclable metals are important resources, especially for the European Union, which is looking to transition into a digital and net-zero economy. Metals including lithium, nickel, cobalt, and other rare earth elements are vital materials used in the production of electronic devices as well as in producing renewable energy products such as solar panels. Yet, exploitation of such metals is at a minimum in the European Union and so, such products are at a high risk of supply deficiency. As of 2023, the European Union has assessed and released a list of 34 critical raw minerals that should be the priority for urban mining.

However, particular manufacturing processes of electronics limit their potential for recyclability and recovery. This may include, for example, the use of metals in particular alloys, as some alloys cannot be recycled, and hybridization, as it is difficult to recycle composite materials. Dispersive use, which involves the utilization of minor quantities of metals in products to modify their properties, is another process that results in unrecyclable products. For example, silver nanoparticles have an industrial utilization in the disinfection of medical equipment and water treatment. Dysprosium, a rare earth metal, is also utilized in magnets to increase its magnetism.

Consumerism also prohibits the recyclability of electronic devices for urban mining. Consumers tend to hoard electronic devices rather than disposing them at a respective recycling facility. This phenomenon is known as “electronic hibernation”. In 2009, a study from the Journal of Environmental Management estimated that households in the US hoard about an average of 6.5 hibernating electronic devices in their attics and basements. That average has increased exponentially since.

Furthermore, recycling facilities are flawed. In France, hazardous waste, including e-waste, is managed by eco-organizations, which are private bodies that have organizational and financial responsibility. Such eco-organizations are regularly involved in controversies, and analyses of such organizations indicate that their waste management is usually suboptimal, considering their particular objective for profitability.

As of now, integrating urban mining into our economic circulation should be our top priority in terms of e-waste. While the life recycling rate of chromium, copper, and zinc is more than 50% (which means that more than half of the discarded quantity is recycled and is put into product circulation), recycled material only comprises between 10% and 25% of the total metal production. As the primary mining of such metals is continuously increasing, the proportion of recycled metals in the total amount of metal production remains relatively minimal. Therefore, as demand for metals continues to grow exponentially today, we should work towards optimal exploitation of urban mining and high recycling rates for all metals in the economy by supporting laboratory research for engineering techniques and processes in urban mining.


Works Cited
Alves, Bruna. “Global e-waste - statistics & facts.” Statista, 6 May 2024, www.statista.com/topics/3409/electronic-waste-worldwide/. Accessed 13 August 2024.

“Electronic waste (e-waste).” WHO (World Health Organization), 18 Oct. 2023, www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/electronic-waste-(e-waste). Accessed 13 August 2024.

“Global e-Waste Monitor 2024: Electronic Waste Rising Five Times Faster Than Documented e-Waste Recycling.” UNITAR (United Nations Institute for Training and Research), unitar.org/about/news-stories/press/global-e-waste-monitor-2024-electronic-waste-rising-five-times-faster-documented-e-waste-recycling. Accessed 13 August 2024.

“Overview.” Basel Convention, www.basel.int/Implementation/Ewaste/Overview/tabid/4063/Default.aspx. Accessed 14 August 2024.

Ramanayaka, Sammani, et al. “2 - Urban mining of E-waste: treasure hunting for precious nanometals.” Handbook of Electronic Waste Management, edited by Prasad, Majeti Narasimha Vara, et al., Butterworth-Heinemann, 2020, pp. 19-54. doi:10.1016/B978-0-12-817030-4.00023-1.

Saphores, Jean-Daniel M., et al. “How much e-waste is there in US basements and attics? Results from a national survey.” Journal of Environmental Management, vol. 90, no. 11, 2009, pp. 3332-3331. doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2009.05.008.

“The E-waste Challenge Massive Open Online Course (MOOC).” Basel Convention, https://www.basel.int/Implementation/TechnicalAssistance/MOOC/tabid/4966/Default.aspx. Accessed 14 August 2024.Verrax, Fanny. “‘Urban mines’: how to unlock our electronic junk’s potential.” The Conversation, 28 Feb. 2024, theconversation.com/urban-mines-how-to-unlock-our-electronic-junks-potential-222670. Accessed 14 August 2024.