Environmental problems caused by technology

INTRODUCTION

Electrical and electronic equipment is a group of products that are characterized by

extreme diversity and a faster innovation cycle. Their production is supported by one of the
fastest growing processing industries in the world. The largest share of such equipment by
mass belongs to the large white goods and information and telecommunication equipment.

As the electronics market expands and innovation cycles become shorter, equipment
replacement accelerates, and the waste of electrical and electronic equipment is considered
the fastest growing waste in the country.

The waste of electrical and electronic equipment are actually products that have been
placed on the market in previous years, with an average lifespan of those products which is 2
years for mobile phones and about 15 years for refrigerators.

The waste of electrical and electronic equipment is a complex of waste of various

materials and components, including several hazardous substances that may be improperly
disposed of in the environment and may be harmful to human health if the waste is not
properly managed. These risks can be significantly reduced if the waste is well managed. The
elements of good governance are the separation from other waste by determining the
appropriate technically adequate treatment, which will reduce the release of harmful
substances and will allow as much of that waste to be recycled as possible.

In order to adequately address the environmental problems related to the current

methods of treatment and disposal of waste from electrical and electronic equipment, it is
considered appropriate to introduce measures in the Republic of North Macedonia that are
equal to the measures at EU level, which are intended primarily to prevent the generation of
waste of electrical and electronic equipment and its reuse, recycling or otherwise waste
treatment and to reduce the risk and environmental impact of waste treatment and disposal.
 Environmental problems

In principle, all equipment that needs electricity to work properly is electrical or

electronic equipment. Each electrical or electronic product consists of a combination of
several basic building blocks. The basic blocks, which are common to electrical and
electronic equipment, are printed circuit boards, cables, wires, plastic containing flame
retardants, switches and circuit breakers with mercury, display equipment, such as cathode
ray tubes and LCD screens, accumulators and batteries, data storage media, light generating
devices, capacitors, resistors and relays, sensors and connectors1.

Ecological problems are the substances contained in these basic blocks: heavy metals
such as mercury, lead, cadmium and chromium, halogen substances such as
chlorofluoroalkanes (CFCs), biphenyls (PCBs), polyvinyl chloride (PVCs) and brominated
metals. flame burning, and also asbestos and arsenic2.

Current waste management of electrical and electronic equipment

The current waste management practice does not properly address the environmental
risk in relation to waste electrical and electronic equipment. Currently, most of this waste in
Macedonia goes to landfill or is processed without prior processing. This leads to a
significant introduction of hazardous materials into the landfill or otherwise into the
environment during the processing of that waste.

However, the landfill is not completely waterproof during its service life, leaks of
metals and chemicals can not be ruled out. It is understandable that the impact on the
environment is much greater when it is placed in uncontrolled landfills, which are maintained

1
List of types of products that fall into the category of electrical and electronic equipment (Official Gazette of
the Republic of Macedonia no. 133/2012)
2
National Program for Waste Management from Electrical and Electronic Equipment (2013-2018)
to some extent in some Member States and in most countries that are in the process of joining
the EU3.

Ethical aspects regarding waste from electrical and electronic equipment

Principle of responsibility of the manufacturer

The "polluter pays" principle is enshrined in EU law. The idea behind this principle is
that those responsible for environmental pollution have the opportunity to improve the
situation. Manufacturers of electrical and electronic equipment design products, determine
their specification and select materials for the production of electrical and electronic
equipment. Only manufacturers can develop access to the eco-design and production of their
products so that they can ensure the longest possible life of the product and in case the use of
the products is abolished, the best methods of processing and disposal.

Electrical and electronic equipment contains many substances that can be harmful to
human health and the environment if the equipment is improperly designed or treated
improperly during use or disposal. A Directive on waste electrical and electronic equipment
has therefore been adopted to reduce these risks by establishing requirements to ensure the
collection and environmental treatment of waste4.

To whom and how does the implementation of the Directive apply?

The treatment of such waste in accordance with the Electrical and Electronic
Equipment Waste Directive worries many participants:

- public authorities: they should implement and enforce the Directive at national level.
Municipalities often provide electrical and electronic equipment waste management services
locally;

3
Waste Management Strategy of the Republic of Macedonia (2008-2020)
4
National Waste Management Plan (2009-2015) of the Republic of Macedonia
 - manufacturers of electrical and electronic equipment: are primarily responsible for
financing, collection, processing and environmental disposal of waste, while taking care of
eco-design;

- consumers of electrical and electronic equipment to which manufacturers transfer

the cost of treatment and which have a role in waste collection;

- the retail and distribution sector have a role to play as part of the collection system;

- recyclers and recycling operators: must ensure that separately collected waste is
processed and monitored for the arrival of waste;

- traders and freight forwarders of electrical and electronic equipment;

- society as a whole, for whom the impact of environmental impact and health
disruption due to waste collection, treatment and disposal is a problem;

- citizens currently suffering from health effects due to inadequate treatment of waste
from the electrical and electronic equipment5.

Current collection of waste from electrical and electronic equipment

It is seen that the vast majority of waste from electrical and electronic equipment (by
weight) is not collected separately, but becomes part of the mixed municipal waste. A
significant part of the waste from the electrical and electronic equipment is illegally
processed or exported illegally, which can be seen in the following scheme, which shows a
different movement of the waste.

5
National Program for Waste Management from Electrical and Electronic Equipment (2013-2018)
 The full (green) arrows represent flows that are properly tracked and reported, and the
evidence suggests that this may be a minority of flows.

Dashed (red) arrows are flows whose quantities, destination and / or treatment are not
reported. Therefore, it is uncertain whether and to what extent these trends are subject to non-
standard and even illegal treatment6.

Collection of waste of the electrical and electronic equipment from households

Waste from electrical and electronic equipment generated in households is estimated

at 87% of the total generation of such waste.

Legal liability for the collection of such household waste currently requires collection
either by producers, traders (distributors) or by municipal utilities, or by a combination of
these organizations.

6
National Waste Management Plan (2009-2015) of the Republic of Macedonia
 In practice, consumers and owners of waste from electrical and electronic equipment
are often required to dispose of the waste at collection points or distributors7.

Creating a policy for waste equipment management

The global increase of waste from electrical and electronic equipment is between 3%
and 5% per year as a result of increased amounts of equipment such as mobile phones and
computers. Rapid technological development supported by good marketing is also one of the
main reasons for the growth of waste.

Due to the presence of some hazardous components and chemicals that are hazardous
to human health and the environment, it is necessary to safely dispose of such waste.
Improper disassembly can cause the release of hazardous substances into the air, water and
soil. There are many examples of pollution: by refrigerant in refrigerators; heavy metals in
batteries; mercury, cadmium and arsenic present in computers; lead and electroluminescent
powder in screens, etc.

Therefore, proper collection and disposal of waste without breaking and spreading
pollutants in the environment is necessary. Recyclable parts should be sent to recycling
facilities and non-recyclable parts should be sent for disposal.

The waste management system must be organized integrally, with all participants in
the system at national and local level, in a way that the following conditions will be met:

- the waste management model must ensure waste collection throughout the entire
territory of Macedonia;

- to establish an efficient network of waste collection points;

- to store and process waste equipment in appropriate plants before its delivery and
further processing;

7
Rulebook on the form and content of the mark for separate collection of waste from electrical and electronic
equipment
 - hazardous substances for the environment to be managed safely, from which
electrical and electronic equipment is composed in the plants for processing this type of
waste;

- efficient treatment - reuse and recycling of waste equipment;

- to finally remove the waste when processing the waste equipment8.

8
National Program for Waste Management from Electrical and Electronic Equipment (2013-2018)
 Conclusion

Republic of North Macedonia is a country with high economic growth and rapid
development of the market for electrical and electronic equipment, which in the future will
contribute to increased waste generation of such equipment. The country has enacted
legislation covering waste, but does not have accurate data on the amount of waste due to the
lack of a monitoring system for this type of waste. The management of such waste is not yet
developed in the country, but if we start from the fact that functional systems for management
of packaging waste and waste from batteries and accumulators are established, it is expected
that the waste management system will be established within the deadlines prescribed by law.
for waste management of electrical and electronic equipment.

In order to implement the main goals, the country should focus on strengthening and
improving mechanisms for cooperation between all stakeholders (authorities, private sector,
academia and civil society); promoting waste management in an environmentally friendly
manner and minimizing the impact on the environment and human health while taking
advantage of the opportunities they present.

The role of each stakeholder should be clearly defined in terms of responsibilities,

capacities and capabilities. Therefore, the competent authorities should focus on the
development, establishment and implementation of an integrated system for the management
of such waste through its life cycle, development and promotion of guidelines for collection,
recycling and final disposal of waste in accordance with the best available techniques,
establishment of effective mechanisms with key stakeholders such as manufacturers,
recyclers, etc., raising public awareness through campaigns and education, etc.

The civic organizations must also contribute to better waste management through
various activities, such as raising public awareness of the dangers of such waste that have a
negative impact on human health and the environment, informing consumers about their
rights to return the waste equipment free of charge to the distributor where they purchased the
equipment, participate in the development of legislation and guidelines for proper waste
management, promotion of sustainable use of electrical and electronic equipment, etc.
 Also, in the future there will have to be more and more extensive recycling facilities
for such waste, which would be available to every household. More innovative technological
processes must be introduced to be used for waste separation, for example, different types of
plastics, which are commonly found in small appliances.

References

Law on Environment ("Official Gazette of the Republic of Macedonia" No. 53/05 of

05.07.2005 81/05, 24 / 07,159 / 08, 83/09, 48/10 and 124/10);

Law on Waste Management (Official Gazette of the Republic of Macedonia ”No.

68/04 of 05.10.2004 71/04, 107/07, 102/08, 134/08, 09/11);

National Program for Waste Management from Electrical and Electronic Equipment
(2013-2018);

National Waste Management Plan (2009-2015) of the Republic of Macedonia;

Waste Management Strategy of the Republic of Macedonia (2008-2020);

Rulebook on the form and content of the request, form and content of the permit for
collection and transportation of municipal and other types of non-hazardous waste, as well as
the minimum technical conditions for performing the activity of collection and transportation
of municipal and other types of non-hazardous waste;

Rulebook on amending and supplementing the Rulebook on the form and content of
the request for obtaining a permit for processing, treatment and / or storage of waste, the form
and content of the permit as well as the minimum technical conditions for performing the
activity processing, treatment and / or storage of waste;

Law on Management of Electrical and Electronic Equipment and Waste from

Electrical and Electronic Equipment (Official Gazette of RM 02/2012);

List of types of products that fall into the category of electrical and electronic
equipment (Official Gazette of the Republic of Macedonia no. 133/2012);
 Rulebook on the form and content of the mark for separate collection of waste from
electrical and electronic equipment (Official Gazette of RM no. 77/2012);

Rulebook on the form and content of the invitation for education, the ways for
implementation of the education as well as the manner of keeping records for implementation
of the education (Official Gazette of RM no. 33/2012).