09:02, 24/02/2021

Electronic waste treatment solution required

Electronic waste or e-waste is an emerging problem in Khanh Hoa Province, posing environmental and health hazards. Therefore, electronic waste is required to be property collected and recycled...
 

Electronic waste or e-waste is an emerging problem in Khanh Hoa Province, posing environmental and health hazards. Therefore, electronic waste is required to be property collected and recycled.
 
Unsorted 
 
According to experts, electronic waste is discarded electrical or electronic devices such as broken, obsolete or used computers, televisions, electrical household appliances; children’s electrical toys; monitoring and control instruments; electronic circuits, circuit boards, etc.
 
Electronic waste is hazardous waste that requires proper collection and treatment. Currently, electronic waste is mostly from electrical and electronic manufacturing establishments. They have reported the waste owners. The waste is collected, sorted and transferred to establishments licensed by the Ministry of Natural Resources & Environment. 
 
 

 

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A storage place for broken TVs in Ninh Quang Commune.

 

 

 
The treatment and recycling process includes metal recovery from electronic waste and air emission treatment to ensure it is safe for the environment. However, a large amount of electronic waste generated from households; electrical and electronic repair shops; scrap facilities, etc are not classified and mixed in regular household trash, according to Bui Minh Son, Deputy Director of the Environmental Protection Agency, Khanh Hoa Department of Natural Resources & Environment.
 
E-scrap collection solution
 
According to environmental experts, e-scrap or e-waste contains potentially harmful materials and heavy metals such as beryllium, cadmium, chromium, lead and mercury. The harmful chemicals may be soaked in land and water sources, thus causing pollution. New electrical and electronic devices may not cause heath impacts but used e-scrap under the impacts of rain, sunlight and smash may release metal particles that are harmful to the environment and cause significant risk to human health.
 
According to Ha Quang Hoa, Director-General of Khanh Hoa Environment joint Stock Company, electronic waste, in principle, is from the disposal of industrial waste which is hazardous to health and environment. Therefore, proper collection and classification of electronic waste are required. At Ninh An Hazardous Waste Treatment Plant, Ninh Hoa Town, heavy metals or toxic substances are separate d and removed from the waste. Less toxic or non-toxic substances are crushed and solidified. The waste treatment plant is also willing to handle hazardous substances from electronic waste from scrap collectors or electronic repair shops if they need.
 
The Provincial Department of Natural Resources & Environment has planned on trash classification; and continued providing consultancy for the Provincial  People’s Committee to raise public awareness of environmental protection through the program exchanging trash for gifts under the Prime Minister’s Directive No. 33 on strengthening the management, reuse, recycling, treatment and minimization of plastic waste and the Provincial People’s Committee’s Plan 10725 dated October 12, 2020 on the Directive No. 33. Especially, the department will have electronic waste collection solutions and place orders with competent trash treatment plants in the coming time, according to Bui Minh Son.
 
V.L
Translated by N.T