Impacts Evaluation of Dumping E-Waste along with Municipal Solid Waste Streams

Abstract

Electronic waste or E-waste includes older electronic end-of-life devices such as computers, laptops, TVs, DVD players, refrigerators, freezers, cell phones, MP3 players, etc., which have been wiped out by their original users. They include some hazardous components which may be harmful to all living beings. This paper deals only with the dumping of cell phones along with MSW because with the technological advancements and addition of new features, disposal of obsolete cell phones in various waste streams becomes a serious problem for environmentalists because of improper dumping methods. Cell phones includes like Printed Circuit Board, Liquid Crystal Display, Plastic Housing, Battery, and other Metallic parts which contain various toxics including heavy metals (such as lead, cadmium, zinc, magnesium manganese etc.), when released from cell phones on exposure to adverse conditions, cause dangerous health impacts on all living beings. This research highlights the impacts of dumping cell phones in various municipal waste streams. Also, the parts gravimetric and fractional analysis of different makes cell phones pose severe environmental degradation.