E-waste and landfill

When a digital system reaches the end of its useful life, throwing it away creates waste. Old phones, tablets, laptops, printers, cables and televisions are all part of a fast-growing rubbish stream called e-waste, also known as techno trash. A lot of e-waste ends up in landfill — holes in the ground where household and business rubbish is buried under soil and covered over.

Poisoning soil, water and food chains

Digital devices are not harmless once buried. Their circuit boards, screens and batteries contain toxic chemicals, and as casings crack and corrode in the damp, those chemicals leak out into the surrounding ground. Rain then washes them into streams, rivers and underground water supplies. Plants take up contaminated water, animals eat the plants, and people eat both — so the poison travels along the food chain and builds up in the bodies of wildlife and humans. The result can be serious ill health, such as damage to the nervous system or organs, in animals and people living near or downstream of a dump.

Greenhouse gases and climate change

Buried e-waste also produces greenhouse gases as the waste slowly breaks down without oxygen. Greenhouse gases trap heat in the atmosphere, which contributes to climate change and global warming. Other toxic gases given off in landfill add to air pollution. One device in a skip may look like a small problem, but multiply it by the millions of devices thrown away each year and the gases add up.

Why burning is not the answer

Some waste is incinerated (burned) instead of buried. Burning e-waste can release toxic fumes that harm people who breathe them in, along with carbon emissions that add to climate change. This is why e-waste should not be sent to landfill or burned: the chemicals and gases it releases damage soil, water, wildlife, health and the climate. Keeping e-waste out of landfill keeps those toxins and gases out of the environment.