E-waste: The giant we created and can no longer ignore
If we recognise the problem, talk about it openly, and support safe systems for disposal and recycling, we can prevent the mountain from growing taller.
SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): We live in a world powered by screens. Our phones wake us up. Our laptops run our workdays. Our televisions entertain us at night. Our watches track our steps. Our children learn on tablets. We depend on technology so deeply that we barely notice how often we reach for it. When a device slows down or a new model appears, we replace it without thinking twice.
But, the story of our devices does not begin or end in our homes. Before a single phone reaches our hand, its minerals are dug out of the earth in distant mines using huge amounts of energy. Those materials travel across countries, pass through factories, and are assembled on production lines that run day and night. Every step consumes fossil fuels and leaves a mark on the environment.
When we eventually push our old devices aside when the battery weakens, when the screen cracks, or when advertisements convince us that an upgrade is overdue, we contribute to a growing crisis that is bigger than any one household or any one country.
Globally, the world now produces 62 million tonnes of electronic waste every year. By 2030, that number will rise to 82 million tonnes. This mountain of discarded electronics is one of the world’s fastest-growing waste problems, but it remains one of the least discussed.
A surprising amount of this waste never even reaches a garbage bin. It hides inside cupboards, drawers, and forgotten boxes in our homes. Across many countries, millions of old phones lie abandoned. These devices contain valuable materials that could be recovered - gold, copper, lithium, rare metals, and high-grade plastics – yet, they sit unused for years, only to be thrown away eventually in unsafe ways.
What really happens when we stop using our devices?
Throwing away electronics with ordinary household waste is where the real problems begin. In landfills, chemicals from batteries and screens can leak into the soil. When rubbish piles are burned, something that happens far too often in many places, including our own country, electronics mixed into the pile release toxic smoke and dangerous gases.
Globally, a large portion of e-waste is sent, quietly and illegally, to poorer nations. There, informal workers break devices apart by hand. They burn plastic casings to collect copper. They smash screens into pieces. They work without gloves or masks. And they inhale dangerous fumes that cause long-term illnesses.
Inside all our electronics are substances like mercury, cadmium, lead, chromium, and toxic flame retardants. These chemicals are linked to breathing problems, nerve damage, kidney issues, cancers, and developmental problems in children.
Most of us never see this damage. It happens far away, in landfills, in scrap yards, in open burning sites, and in poor communities who never used these devices to begin with. The consequences do not stop at borders.
The e-waste crisis in our country
We have also become a part of this global challenge, and our country’s own e-waste problem is growing rapidly. As our lifestyles become more digital, the amount of electronic waste that we generate increases every year.
Studies estimate that Sri Lanka produces over 100,000 tonnes of e-waste annually. This includes old phones, broken televisions, outdated radios, laptops that no longer turn on, piles of chargers, cracked screens, and countless gadgets that have lost their usefulness, and a huge part of this crisis is almost completely ignored - the batteries that we throw away every single day.
All around the country, in houses, shops, offices, and schools, people casually throw away used AA and AAA batteries with their regular garbage. These small batteries are found in remote controls, clocks, toys, torches and dozens of everyday items. They look small and harmless, so, people don’t think twice before tossing them in the dustbin.
These ordinary household batteries contain heavy metals and harmful chemicals. When thrown onto the ground, into drains, home garbage piles, or roadside dumps, these batteries leak toxic substances that seep into the soil and water. When they burn, they release poisonous fumes that mix with smoke and drift into our neighbourhoods.
In many of our homes, batteries end up in compost pits. In many villages, batteries are burned along with leaves and mixed waste. In urban areas, they end up in municipal landfills that were never designed to handle hazardous waste. And, because they are small, they multiply quickly, thousands of batteries discarded from thousands of homes.
This is one of the quietest but most dangerous forms of pollution in our country. The chemicals from even a handful of batteries can contaminate groundwater. Over time, these toxins build up in the soil, vegetables, water bodies, and the wider environment.
Yet, as a society, we rarely talk about it. We talk about plastic bottles, shopping bags, and pollution but not these small cylinders of poisonous metal that we throw away daily.
This is part of the larger e-waste story that our country urgently needs to confront.
Why we cannot ignore e-waste anymore?
We are a small island with interconnected ecosystems. Our rivers, lakes, wetlands, and coastal areas are linked. A toxin that enters the ground in one area can eventually travel into water sources, agricultural fields, and even seafood. This creates risks not just for the environment but for our health and economy.
Recent reports point to rising concerns about exposure to heavy metals, especially in communities close to dumping and informal recycling sites. In urban and semi-urban areas, burning mixed waste including electronics is common and releases harmful fumes. And, in rural areas, where waste collection is limited, discarded electronics and batteries often end up in open land or pits where they break down slowly over time.
Informal recycling in our country adds another layer of danger. Workers in small scrap yards break open electronics without protective gear. Wires are burned to extract metal. Devices are smashed apart using basic tools. Toxic smoke drifts into surrounding communities. Children breathe it. Families breathe it. It becomes part of the air that we all share.
A crisis we all live with and a future we can still shape
E-waste is a crisis built on convenience. It grows every time that a device is replaced, a battery is thrown away casually, and a gadget stops working because it was not designed to last. This crisis does not need blame or lectures. It needs awareness.
Every part of society plays a role. Individuals shape how many devices enter households. Businesses influence what products come into the market and how long they last. Importers decide whether to bring in cheap items that break quickly. Schools influence future habits. Government shapes the rules, systems, and protections.
No single group caused this crisis. No single group can solve it alone. But, all of us live with its consequences.
Our country cannot afford to treat e-waste as a small issue. It is a growing threat to our environment, health, and future. The longer we ignore it, the deeper the damage will spread.
The digital choices we make today will shape the SL of tomorrow
Technology is part of our lives. It opens doors, creates jobs, supports education, and connects families. We cannot let the digital world leave behind a toxic shadow.
The devices we use should not harm the land that we live on. The convenience that we enjoy should not poison the soil that feeds us. The tools that make our lives easier should not make our country sicker. E-waste, including the small batteries that we throw away without thinking is a silent danger. It builds slowly, quietly, year after year. But, so does the opportunity to change course.
If we recognise the problem, talk about it openly, and support safe systems for disposal and recycling, we can prevent the mountain from growing taller. We can protect our soil, water, air, and the health of our communities. Our country deserves a clean, safe, and healthy future. The time to act and the time to care is now.
Courtesy: www.themorning.lk