Disposal of electronic Waste

Table of Contents Introduction Why I chose this Topic E-waste Pros of Recycling Cons of Recycling Conclusion Works Cited Introduction Electronic waste refers to carelessly discarded, excess, or out of order electronic devices. This definition is vague and there is still debate as to whether items such as broken fridges and other household appliances should be included under e-wastes.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Disposal of electronic Waste specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More However, the widely accepted definition includes wastes arising from computers, old electronic devices such as phones (both fixed and mobile) and entertainment gadgets, television sets, computer monitors, refrigerators, and other electronic communication devices. Poor disposal of e-wastes poses several risks to human health and environmental quality as they contain noxious metallic elements known to cause serious health complica tions such as lead, cadmium, mercury, and beryllium. When the wastes are buried in landfills, toxic constituents can infiltrate into water systems and the soil, and finally reach our bodies. Should we sacrifice ourselves for the sake of technology? There has been a growing call for industry players to effect proper disposal of e-wastes, or to find alternative uses of the wastes, such as recycling and separating the components of the electronic devices for use in various industrial processes. Why I chose this Topic Because I wanted to inform readers of remedies to poor disposal of e-wastes such as recycling, consumer awareness efforts and adopting safe manufacturing techniques. Recycling is the best approach to tackling threats arising from e-wastes owing to several advantages. Because I wanted to emphasize on the benefits that we can get by recycling electronic devices rather than discarding them haphazardly. This method entails using the old items for other purposes instead of disc arding them. Because I wanted to highlight the severe health complications that arise from poor disposal of e-wastes, the complications include chronic damage to the nervous system, renal dysfunction, lung cancer, kidney and liver damage and even brain damage. E-waste Why are we not aware of the dangers of disposing electronic wastes and keep insisting that these wastes have no use at all? Of late, the issue of electronic waste (e-waste) disposal has become a controversial issue all over the world owing to the widespread use and electronic technologies such as computers, television and CRTs (Morgan, para. 1).Advertising Looking for research paper on ecology? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The rate at which people use and discard electronic devices is alarming, shockingly, few people have knowledge of how the devices we use regularly can be harmful once they become obsolete. When shall we all wake up to the reality of poor dis posal of e-wastes? Should we wait until all of our water systems and soil are contaminated with heavy metals so that we can take action? Sadly, it will be too late and time for action is now. Today, every home uses at least one electronic device and the television, computer and mobile phones are the most common. With increasing ease of access or ownership of these items, partly attributed to decrease in cost and the increasingly digitized world, the volume of e-waste is set to increase rapidly and if appropriate measures are not taken urgently, these wastes may reach unmanageable levels. On a positive note, various organizations and environmental protection agencies have recognized the dangers of e-wastes and have started increasing public awareness on this issue, besides pushing public and private institutions to participate actively in recycling and properly dispose of electronic wastes. There are several strategies that can be used to manage electronic wastes, these include recyc ling, consumer awareness efforts and adopting safe manufacturing techniques. However, recycling offers the best option and ensures that the toxic material does not end up in the environment. According to the blog â€Å"The Benefits of Your Electronic Recycling† on Avalanche Technology’s website, one blogger discusses how recycling electronic technology is the best way to prevent environmental pollution and health complications arising from these wastes. Regardless of how various electronic technologies make a huge difference in the efficiency and speed of our lives as users, lack of awareness on how to dispose of these items can make the risk from electronic technology grow bigger and bigger. One strategy that has been identified as an effective to this rising problem is recycling. This involves reuse, shredding, and donation of obsolete electronic equipment. Recycling undergoes in several stages, beginning with collection, brokering, disassembling, fixing or recycling parts of the equipment. The process is sometimes known as e-cycling (recycling of e-wastes).Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Disposal of electronic Waste specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Pros of Recycling While the  Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) does not forbid households from dumping their electronic equipment, recycling them can reduce contamination of the environment. The EPA further states there are more than 40 million excess computers in the US alone, these will be discarded in the next few years and unless proper recycling plans are put underway, we may be staring at a very bleak future. Already, several legislation have been enacted around the world that requires companies to recycle their products, this, it is argued, will motivate the companies to use fewer components in the production process, produce durable products, and use safer, more efficient recycling methods (Yuan et al, pp . 660). E-wastes can provide an important source of raw materials in the manufacture of other equipment if they are recycled properly. For example, a sewing machine contains mercury which can be retrieved and used in other industrial processes, for example, manufacture of thermometers. Since recycling also includes donation of used equipment, the process helps in availing second hand electronic devices at lower costs. Today, many western countries donate computers to developing countries, or sell them at lower costs and this has the effects of putting these developing countries at a higher level on the application of technology. Electronic wastes contain precious elements such as gold, lead and copper. These valuable elements can be retrieved from disassembled e-wastes and reused in other equipment. However, the wastes also contain toxic elements such as lead, cadmium, chromium, and radioactive elements (Mayfield, para. 7). When e-wastes are buried in landfills, the toxic elements c an leach into underground water and later reach surface water systems such as rivers and lakes from which they can enter our body if the water is not adequately purified. The toxic elements may also leach into the soil and enter our body through agricultural products. These elements are associated with serious health complications such as chronic damage to the nervous system, renal dysfunction, lung cancer, kidney and liver damage and even brain damage. Therefore, mechanisms must be put in place to ensure that these e-wastes are handled in the right manner. Recycling ensures that toxic elements from electronic wastes do not reach the soil and water systems.Advertising Looking for research paper on ecology? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Cons of Recycling While recycling is a cheap alternative for preventing environmental contamination, it has come under heavy criticism from various stakeholders. Part of the criticism arises from the fact that recycling will raise a firm’s waste management expenses and obstructs creativity from high-tech firms. Critics also say that recycling could unintentionally cause damage to the environment as it leads to accumulation of electronic materials that will eventually have to be discarded. They also say that e-wastes do not constitute a significant portion of total wastes, for instance, a study revealed that barely 4% of waste arises from electronic equipment in Europe. Hence, diversion of more funds to implement undertakes management activities will only serve to benefit the companies and not the public (Hicks et al, 2005). While writing on the Science section of Wired Magazine, Kendra Mayfield (para. 8) mentions that â€Å"e-waste collected in the United States for recyclin g is exported †¦ workers †¦ are handling toxic chemicals that can pose serious health problems†. This statement stems from the fact that recycling of e-wastes, particularly the disassembly process, is very risky to the workers as they are exposed to the heavy metals present in most of the equipment. This problem can worsen if workers do not wear protective gear. It is costly too since the percentage of the initial cost recovered after recycling can be as low as 1-5%. A final objection is that in the process of donating used computers to developing countries, companies are, in essence, dumping their wastes into these countries. Studies show that close to 200,000 tons of e-wastes are exported into developing countries. Conclusion Obsolete electronic equipment have rapidly increased in volume around the world due to technological advancements and low initial costs. The rapid growth of e-wastes has had serious negative impacts on our environment since the wastes contain carcinogenic and toxic elements. Although several measures have been identified, recycling has been noted as the most effective method of managing electronic wastes. Recycling can motivate the companies to use fewer components in the production process, produce durable products, and use safer, more efficient recycling methods. Recycling can also provide raw materials cheaply, avail second hand electronic devices at lower costs to developing countries, and they contain valuable elements. Works Cited Hicks, Chrlotte, Dietmara, Rolf, and Eugsterb, Martin. The recycling and disposal of electrical and electronic waste in China—legislative and market responses. Environmental Impact Assessment Review, 25 (5), 2005, 459–471. Mayfield, Kendra. E-Waste: Dark Side of Digital Age. Wired Magazine, January 10, 2003. Web. https://www.wired.com/2003/01/e-waste-dark-side-of-digital-age/ Morgan, Russell. Tips and Tricks for Recycling Old Computers. Aug 21, 2006. Web. from http://www.sma rtbiz.com/article/articleprint/1525/-1/58 Yuan, Chris, Zhang, Hong C., McKenna, Gregory, Korzeniewski, Carol, and Li, Jianzhi. Experimental Studies on Cryogenic Recycling of Printed Circuit Board. International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology, Vol. 34, 2007, pp. 657-666. This research paper on Disposal of electronic Waste was written and submitted by user Zeke Rowe to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

buy custom Toyota Crisis essay

buy custom Toyota Crisis essay This essay examines the problems that have befallen Toyota for the last six years. These problems caused a major crisis in its reputation. In 2009, Toyota faced a major drawback from its leaky technology in designing the acceleration pedal and its installation in the vehicles. This misfortune in the acceleration pedal resulted in recall of more than eight categories of its most popular vehicles. The recall of these faulty vehicles resulted in stagnation on the sales of the other brand categories all over the globe with its North American and European production and sales plants being hit the worst. The repair of this bug in the design and the fatal accidents recorded as result of this problem brought the famous brand name under public scrutiny. It incurred heavy drops in its profit margin and customer loyalty that it had boasted for decades. Therefore, this paper will design the chronological timeline in which these crises in Toyota took place with the aim of demystifying the underly ing factors that resulted in its occurrence. The revelations made in the crisis timeline areexpoundedby scholarly works ofMitroffandRoux-Dufort models of crisis management and they could be implemented in theToyota brand crisis. TheMitroffcrisis management model iscomposedof five phrases that elaborate the process of deviating and minimizing crisis in organizations. These phases are: the signal detection phase, prevention or preparation phase, crisis or damage containment phase, organization recovery phase and, lastly, the learning phase. The crisis signal detection phase entails focusing on finding signals that show looming of a crisis in the organization. The signalsidentified as deviating from the normal are a part and parcel of the organizations daily operationsareisolatedif they show any symptoms that depict a crisis. This phase is paramount and istaken seriously by all relevant stakeholders in the organization (Mitroff, Pearson Harrington, 2006). The prevention or crisis preparation phase deals with delineating the organisation activities towards eliminating and minimising the organisation weaknesses that are prone to the crises and its vagaries. The elimination processis based on the warning signalsi dentified in the first phase of theMitroffcrisis management process model. This proces eliminates absolutely or prepares the organisation for the crisis (Pearson Mitroff, 2003). The crisis containment or damage phase commences when the crisis is inevitable. In this phase, organisations deal with damage control as a result of the crisis. Toachieveproper control of damagethe organisation must have well-prepared plans to prevent the damages that arise as result of the crisis from spilling out of control.The availability ofelaborate plans to mitigate the size of damageof the crises in the organisation is very vital. This is because it helps the organisation in dealing with all shortcomings that face it more concisely, given that it has limited time to formulate intensive crisis management plans that would end any damage it would incur while the crises are unfolding. Phase four of the model entails recovery of the organisation. This phase makes sure the damageincurred by the organisation as a result of the crisisis repaired. The repair process takes into consideration two issues. First, the process establishes the most critical ways and actions that itsmanagement should carry out to make sure that the organisation would survive the damages of the crises. Secondly, the organisation drafts waysmeant to make sureit serves its most loyal customers after the crisis. TheMitroffmodel last phase of learning involves a close examination of the events that startedthe crisis. This phase focuses on the pre-crisis, the crisis and post-crisis events. This examination enables the organisation management to learn a number of lessons that amass newer knowledge on such events. As a result, the organisation is able to enhance its capabilities to forecast, prevent and mitigate the effects of a similar crisis in the future. This phase makes organisationthe benchmark that other organisations can draw lessons from or consult when they face similar problems (Jordan-Meier, 2011). In order for Toyota to address this problem, it had toimprovise and be ready to the results that would trickle forth. This improvisation stipulates that Toyota had to come up with new ways of management that it would deploy in curbing and eradicating the crisis that had plunged it into murky waters. To support this conclusion,Roux-Duforttheory of crisis management advocates for exceptional management of crisisisused. This field of crisis management is essential and it requires that an organization has organization contingency plans and watertight pre-crisis and post-crisis management plans. In showing the danger that an organization faces in times of crisis,Roux-Dufort (2001) formulates a theory of crisis that draws its foundation in closer relationship with the mainstream of organization. This approach strengthens the organizations capabilities of handling crises and its ability to cope with these changes both in the long-term and short-term. This theory is critically important to t his essay. This is because Toyota needed to strengthen its organizations capacities to cope with lasting changes on the acceleration pedal problem that was attributed to its faulty design. This theory is the premise of this essay in managing the crisis at Toyota. This is because it focuses on specific events during the crisis. For instance, after it became eminent that Toyota could no longer shift the blame in the acceleration pedal to its customers, Toyota had to forcefullyrecall the faulty vehicles and redesign these components (Coombs, 2011). As noted by Roux-Dufort (2001, p26) theMitroffandRoux-Dufortcrisis management models have articulately expressed their stand on operation-oriented and process-oriented strategies in mitigating crises in an organization. They have inculcated knowledge to the management on the explicit need to find crisis solution and learn from it to prevent recurrence of such an event in the future. This knowledge has clearly aligned with the chronological Toyota crisis timeline as illustrated in the diagram above. These models clearly illustrate the essay. This canbe tested in alignment to the knowledge on crisis managementprocedures and processes that would eventually improve the organizations performance after the tide of crises it was facing pass. This is clear in the Toyota case. The world-class car manufacturer overcame the crises it was facing and successively restored its reputation. Itattainedthis through operation and process oriented processes as those illustrated by the two models. This h as helped to minimize uncertainties that might happen in the future. It has also set precedents for similar businesses by enriching them with knowledgeexpected to enhance their capabilities in managing crises of the same sort. Buy custom Toyota Crisis essay