Exam (elaborations)
GGH3708 portfolio 2023 Due 16 Oct
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PORTFOLIO
COURSE: ENVIRONMENTAL AWARENESS AND RESPONSIBILITY
CODE: GGH3708
DUE DATE: 16 Oct 2023
DEPARTMENT OF GEOGRAPHY
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AFRICA
Part 1: Raising awareness about electronic waste in the community
Introduction
After having casual conversations with people in my community about
recycling, it came to my attention that most people in my community do participate in
recycling at home. However, they do not recycle their electronic waste, but dispose
of it in their municipal waste bins. I came to realize that people are unaware of the
hazardous nature of electronic waste and the effects on the environment when it is
disposed of incorrectly.
Definition of electronic waste
Electronic waste or e-waste can be defined as all items of electrical or
electronic equipment and its components which have been discarded without the
intention of reuse (Baldé et al., 2015).
Classification of e-waste
In general (Chatterjee & Abraham, 2017) e-waste can be classified into
household appliances, information and communication equipment and consumer
electronics, computers, laptops, printers, mobile phones and computer accessories.
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, One e-waste product may contain a variety of different materials and elements which
differentiate it from other household and industrial waste.
Why has e-waste become a problem?
The steep increase in e-waste came about with the rapid changes in
technological development and the low cost of many electronic products. According
to U.S.EPA (2009 cited in Saphores et al., 2011:49) e-waste has been observed as
the fasts growing segment of household waste.
Quantities of e-waste
Globally the total amount of e-waste generated in 2014 was estimated at 41,8
million metric tonnes (Baldé et al., 2015). The total estimated amount of e-waste
produced in South Africa is 322000 tonnes per year (GreenCape, 2016). However
only 12% is being recycled. The StEP Initiative (Solving the e-waste problem)
estimated that the average South African generates approximately 6.6kg of e-waste
per year (StEP Initiative 2015). The Western Cape population of 5.8 million
generates 40000 tonnes of e-waste available for recycling. This amount does not
include the additional e-waste in storage.
Considering the excessive amount of e-waste quantities in the Western Cape
which is where I live, there is an opportunity to inform the community about the
benefits of recycling e-waste and the harmful effects on the environment when
ewaste is not recycled. The most important factor for increasing e-waste recycling is
to create awareness through different media channels as this is how most
households can be reached.
Factors contributing to increased e-waste recycling
As a general observation participation in recycling activities is not the norm
for most households. A study on the willingness of households to participate in
ewaste recycling (Saphores et al., 2011) found that educating consumers on the
benefits of recycling, promoting moral values and the convenience of e-waste
recycling motivates households to engage in e-waste recycling. In addition, other
studies concluded that people who are more inclined to recycle e-waste are likely to
be part of larger families, have knowledge about the toxic effects of e-waste and have
encountered conventional recycling (Saphores et al., 2011).
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