TRASH bins could be set up across the country to collect electronic waste as councillors explore ways to tackle the menace.
The Capital Trustees Board yesterday unanimously approved a proposal to gather and recycle digital waste by allocating containers at various places in the governorate. They also proposed awarding the contract to a company specialised in recycling e-waste.
The GDN earlier reported that around 30 per cent of rubbish disposed daily in the Hafeera landfill were electronics and electrical appliances, which contain toxic elements.
According to official reports, around 1.6 million tonnes of waste was dumped at Hafeera last year. Domestic waste topped the list with 546,822 tonnes, construction waste came in second at 487,940 tonnes, followed by commercial and industrial waste at 397,544 tonnes, and agricultural waste at 127,350 tonnes.
“Millions of electronic devices are being dumped in landfills,” council’s public services and utilities committee member Dr Maha Al Shehab said during its bi-weekly meeting yesterday.
“Globally, there is a concern about the inappropriate handling of e-waste as the toxic contents could impact our immediate environment.
“Countries must adopt smart techniques to recycle the waste as it could provide a good source of income for people, communities and countries.”
Experts worldwide see huge potential in mining old electronics for precious metals. Though often laced with lead, mercury or other toxic substances, laptops and phones also contain valuable elements like gold, silver and copper.
Dr Al Shehab pointed out that in one year recycling activities in the US created 757,000 jobs and $6.7 billion of tax revenue.
“Recycling can also save landfills and reduce global warming,” she added.
The committee earlier held meetings with Capital Municipality Cleaning Department head Jassem Reda and Gulf City Cleaning Company operations director Hisham Al Haddad.
“They suggested possible agreements with specialised companies to collect, sort and recycle electronic waste by placing containers at different points in the Capital Governorate, to begin with,” she said.
The proposal will be submitted to the ministerial office.
Dr Al Shehab told the GDN that adopting good practices in e-waste handling would also help Bahrain achieve six Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
“For a small country like ours, a local factory is feasible enough to address concerns over mounting e-waste,” she said.
The GDN earlier reported that the government had approved a plan to set up an e-waste recycling factory in Bahrain. The proposal from Southern Municipal Council followed concerns over mounting waste at the Hafeera landfill which includes mobile phones, computers, printers, televisions and kitchen appliances.
“Most countries export e-waste, we need to think on those lines too,” Dr Al Shehab said.
“A landfill is not the solution as toxic chemicals in these waste will seep into the soil and water affecting animals and humans alike.”
Council member Dr Lulwa Al Mutlaq echoed similar sentiments.
“With the rapid growth in technology, gadgets are being replaced or discarded frequently. Most people end up dumping them, it could pose grave environmental and health risks.”
The GDN reported in March that Bahrain imported computers worth BD8.8m in the first three months of this year, which means old ones were thrown out, whether from government offices or people’s homes, adding to the mounting e-waste.
A record 54m tonnes of e-waste was generated worldwide in 2019, up 21 per cent in five years, the UN’s Global E-waste Monitor report found.
The 2019 figure is equivalent to 7.3kg for every man, woman and child on Earth, though use is concentrated in richer nations. The amount of e-waste is rising three times faster than the world’s population, and only 17pc of it was recycled in 2019.
raji@gdn.com.bh
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