WEEE (not the weee! commonly used in messenger viber or text) stands for Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment. It is a more appropriate and more encompassing term for E-waste, or electronic waste. Basically, any discarded equipment that has an electrical plug or battery falls under this category.
WEEE is the fastest growing solid waste in the world. The decreasing life of equipment triggered by technological advances is contributing to this. For instance, in the Philippines celphones are replaced every two years. The invention of more efficient and better appliances like the flat screen LED TV has made the bulky TV models obsolete.
According to the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), the estimated total amount of WEEE generated in the world in 2014 was 41.8 million metric tonnes (Mt). It has been forecasted to increase to 50 Mt by 2018. This WEEE is comprised of 1.0 Mt of lamps, 6.3 Mt of screens, 3.0 Mt of small IT (such as mobile phones, pocket calculators, personal computers, printers, etc.), 12.8 Mt of small equipment (such as vacuum cleaners, microwaves, toasters, electric shavers, video cameras, etc.), 11.8 Mt of large equipment (such as washing machines, clothes dryers, dishwashers, electric stoves, photovoltaic panels, etc.) and 7.0 Mt of cooling and freezing equipment.
The growing amount of WEEE or E-waste is an environmental issue. UNEP says that the environmental burden based on the annual supply of toxins from WEEE comprised of 2.2 Mt of lead glass, 0.3 Mt of batteries and 4 kilo tonnes (kt) of ozone-depleting substances (CFCs). If not properly handled, all of these toxic materials will end up in the environment.
Backyard or small time recyclers who are not properly trained and equipped to dismantle WEE are at high risk. A few years ago, I saw a junk shop with a huge pile of scrap computer monitors in his backyard. These monitors contain lead, a cumulative toxicant that affects multiple body systems and is particularly harmful to young children.
On the other hand, WEEE are also a source of precious metals and rare earth elements. Recovering these precious metals will result in a lot of savings in mining and processing them which is also good to the environment. The intrinsic material value of global WEEE has been estimated to be 48 billion euros in 2014, based on global trade prices. The material value is dominated by gold, copper and plastics contents.
For the 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo, the organizers aim to produce gold, silver, and bronze medals from the metals found in discarded smartphones and other electronics. This is doable considering that Japan recovered 143 kilograms of gold, 1,566 kilograms of silver, and 1,112 tons of copper from discarded devices in 2014.
According to UNEP, About 15.5 percent of the total WEEE waste generated is getting scientifically recycled. Since the last two decades, many national governments in Europe and other developed countries have made continuous efforts for WEEE waste management. However, the majority of the countries in the world are without WEEE management systems. In the Philippines, we still do not have a law that will address the growing WEEE problem in the country.