A Specialist: 3 million tons of electronic waste are produced annually in the Kingdom
A specialist in the electronic waste sector confirmed that this type of waste is considered a time bomb that destroys the environment, cities, and even humans if it is disposed of by legal and legitimate methods and with very special steps.
Zamil bin Sultan Al-Shahrani, Executive Director of the Saudi Daz Factory for the Recycling of Electrical, Electronic, and Solid Waste, said during a lecture organized by the Asharqia Chamber represented by the Environment Committee Thursday 11 March 2021 and moderated by the Chairman of the Committee Talal bin Sultan Al-Rasheed, that several cities in the world are considered toxic cities as a reference to this. Not being bound by the "Basel" treaty that codifies the disposal of electronic waste, as these cities work on destroying electronic waste in random ways that destroy the environment and water and mess with human health, especially children who are forced to work in landfills of this type of waste. They cause several diseases that kill children when they reach 20 years of age.
Al-Shahrani explained that the effects of electronic waste are many, as they are wastes that pollute the environment, water, and air sources, and cause several diseases, including skin cancer, damage to the nervous system, heart, and kidneys, and its impact extends to the economic sector, where it wastes natural resources and energy sources.
Al-Shahrani explained that the effects of electronic waste are many, as they are wastes that pollute the environment, water, and air sources, and cause several diseases, including skin cancer, damage to the nervous system, heart, and kidneys, and its impact extends to the economic sector, where it wastes natural resources and energy sources.
Al-Shahrani pointed out that the Kingdom annually imports 230 million devices between a computer and a phone, and the number of mobile phone users in the Kingdom reached 54 million users, pointing to 3 million tons of electronic waste produced in the Kingdom annually, considering that the average validity of these devices reaches 4 years, as well. That 70 percent of toxic waste is from e-waste, and 85 percent is disposed of through landfills.
Regarding the best environmental model for disposing of electronic waste, Al-Shahrani said that it begins by sorting the devices and then crushing the materials, and then those materials are sorted and processed through automated lines, until they become raw materials such as aluminum, copper, iron, plastic and precious metals, and thus they become raw materials used in the manufacturing industries. Prepared to enter the stages of the recycling process.
