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Soaring E-waste Affects the Health of Millions – ‘Jaan Hai Toh Jahan Hai’

‘Jaan Hai Toh Jahan Hai’

Mir Taqi Mir (Urdu poet of the 18th century)

Lovely quote, which reminds us that life is the greatest gift of all. We have the whole world ahead of us if we live and take care of ourselves.

Covid_19 pandemic made us realize:

How important health is for human beings. #SDG3

How important Life below water is for our ecosystem. #SDG14

How important Decent Job and Economic Growth is for all. #SDG8

Covid_19 pandemic also:

Resulted in the use of electric & electronic goods which brought opportunities and comforts in our lives.

Resulted in the world’s fastest-growing e-waste stream consisting of end-of-life electrical and electronic devices with a cable used in offices and at home.

Resulting in creating dumps, landfills and mountains of e-waste.

Electronic Waste:

Contains at least 60 elements from the periodic table, some of which are highly toxic radioactive elements and others are economically valuable and precious metals.

Contains base metals such as tin (Sn) and copper (Cu), special metals such as Indium (In), antimony (Sb) and cobalt (Co) as well as noble metals such as palladium (Pd), silver (Ag), platinum (Pt) and gold (Au).

The three largest e-waste collectors in the world are the small town Guiyu situated in Hong Kong city of China, Accra in Ghana and Lagos port in Nigeria (Africa).

E-waste Goods Categories:

White Goods are large household appliances, such as refrigerators, washing machines and air conditioners.

Grey Goods are built on information technology & telecommunications, such as computers, laptops, mobiles.

Brown Goods are larger, non-portable electronic goods such as microwaves, stereos, televisions & cameras.

RiseUp4Ewaste International Project focuses on SDG 3, Target 3.9: By 2030, substantially reduce the number of deaths and illnesses from hazardous chemicals and air, water and soil pollution and contamination.

Soaring e-waste affects the health of millions of children… WHO warns

12.9 million women working in the informal waste sector, are exposed to toxic e-waste.
18 million children are engaged in the informal e-waste processing sector.

Ignorance of e-waste management is a rising health issue.

We need to act now!

We need to go for e-waste management and advocacy!

We need to Rise up together for SDG3 Good Health and Well Being!

‘Jaan Hai Toh Jahan Hai’

Paramjeet Kaur Dhillon

Principal, Kamla Nehru Public School,

Phagwara, Punjab – India

Image Courtesy: Tehran Times

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