Tech advancements causing excessive E-waste

Ongoing advancements in laptops and mobile phones are leading to the equally rapid abandonment of old models which no longer meet the mark.

According to technology researchers GBI Research, the generation of e-waste has grown sharply over the past 20 years and will continue its growth as technology becomes more advanced.

Due to the creations of tablets and smartphones, such constant upgrades are leading to an increase in discarded laptops and mobile phones, spurring the need for safe disposal of such waste.

"Increasing numbers of mobile users now exist and technology is being rapidly discarded from households in both developed and developing economies," GBI says.

"E-waste is becoming one of the fastest growing waste streams in the world.

"While developed economies such as the U.S. have a high rate of e-waste generation due to high replacement rates, emerging countries like India and China represent a budding new market for electrical and electronic goods."

GBI says despite the market penetration of PCs and mobile phones to still be low in emerging countries, it is expected to grow rapidly in the future.

"A major source of obsolete PCs in the e-waste market is the large Asia-Pacific IT industry," GBI says.

"Demand for the latest technologies, higher computing speeds and increased efficiency has led to more and more electronics being thrown away.

"Along with the high generation of e-waste domestically, China and India also receive illegal imports of e-waste from developed countries.

"These trends will increase the volume of e-waste generated in India, Japan and China in the future, which GBI believes will reach a total volume of 11.9 million metric tons by 2020."

The news comes days before the most anticipated week for technology this year with Apple's iPad Mini expected to go head to head to Microsoft's new Surface tablet.

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