Last updated April 12, 2019
David Newman has a point. A good one. Newman serves on the board of the International Solid Waste Association and he recently spoke on the need for better waste disposal, commenting: “We are creating an environmental disaster that developing countries are ignoring at their own peril.”
That environmental disaster is based on the leap in growth of MSW, or municipal solid waste, which is what you and I probably just call ‘the trash’. Problems with huge garbage dumps are already bad enough, but the waste management gurus who recently attended the Rio+20 conference are warning that it is going to get worse, a lot worse. In fact, MSW is supposed to increase by 100 percent by 2025, a date that is only 13 years away. No wonder this very issue is being called one of the most important ecological issues of our time.
E-trash is a big part of the problem and it is growing at a much faster rate than trash in general. In fact, even before that 2025 date hits, discarded electronics are set to increase by 500 percent in some places around the world. The problem is more than just an unsightly pile of old junk that should have been recycled. When you do not sell your cell phone so it can be recycled, it ends up leaching toxic chemicals into the ground and into the very water that people and animals end up eventually drinking.
Be a part of the solution and make sure you stop adding to the e-waste problem. Recycle!