Wasted potential of e-waste

Under a green shed at the JR Recycling Solutions in Savar of Dhaka, two groups of workers were sorting through discarded electronics equipment. Wearing safety gear, one group was stripping copper wires from rubber insulation, while another was unscrewing smartphone jigs using compressor-based airguns. 

Aluminium dice, metal screws, rubber and plastic were being extracted in the process of dismantling the obsolete items, and sent to JR Recycling Solutions from Samsung's Bangladesh plant of high-end handsets. All such extracted items have recycling value. 

"At least 26 items worth Tk200 minimum can be recovered from dismantling a smartphone," said JR Recycling Solutions' Managing Director MA Hossian. 

Under the shed, a number of wooden crates contained different types of dismantled – mostly tiny and shiny – items. Instructed by MA Hossain, site engineer Nakib Uddin brought a plastic container from the warehouse. The box was half-full of golden items like gold-plated pins and connectors, which are familiar as butterflies used in electronic circuits of telecommunication network towers. One of the crates contained tiny pieces of silver-coated copper washers. 

A local scrap trader was trying to buy the items. 

"The current market price of copper is Tk540 maximum per kg. But the trader has offered Tk1,500 because the product contains silver," Hossain said, adding that the export value of the product is higher than the trader has offered. "I will definitely not sell to him," he added. 

In Bangladesh, JR Solutions and six other companies are Department of Environment-certified e-waste handlers who can export dismantled items. 

Launched in 2011, JR Recycling Solutions exports recovered items from e-waste, mostly to Japan and Qatar, and its annual turnover is around Tk30 crore. The amount does not however make MA Hossian happy, because certified e-waste handlers collect only a tiny portion of the e-waste generated in this country. 

On the other hand, unauthorised scrap traders control the biggest share of the business and they export scraps directly to China. This is happening due to lax implementation of the Hazardous (e-waste) Waste Management Rules 2021, Hossain said.

Untapped potential  

According to Assessment of Generation of E-Waste, Its Impacts on Environment and Resource Recovery Potential in Bangladesh – a 2018 baseline survey jointly conducted by the Centre for Environmental and Resource Management (CERM) and Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) – around 0.40 million tonnes of e-waste is generated in Bangladesh. By the year 2035, the amount will be 4.62 million tonnes, at an annual growth rate of around 20%.

E-waste is often called an urban mine as it contains several precious metals like gold, silver, platinum, palladium, neodymium and others, along with hazardous metals like lead. Recovery of these precious metals in environment-friendly, as well as efficient ways, can transform e-waste into a resource.

The 2018 baseline survey reports that 1 tonne of phone handsets contains 3.5kg of silver, 340g of gold, 140g of palladium and 130kg of copper. 

The e-waste management rules bind the manufacturers, importers, dealers, traders, end users and refurbishers to deposit e-waste to the authorised handlers at their own expense. The handlers must then dismantle and segregate the waste and, if capable, recycle them in an environment-friendly way, with proper safety measures.  

The system, however, is nominally in place. Designated bins for e-waste have not gained traction in Bangladesh. Moreover, the channel of e-waste sourcing from industries and households is still undefined. As a result, uncertified scrap traders still dominate the e-waste handling business.

Although multinational telecommunication operators, under international compliance, prioritise listed vendors (properly certified entities) in handling their e-waste, most government agencies prefer open bidding. In this process, certified e-waste handlers often fall behind the low-bidding scrap traders.  

"Scrap traders mostly follow low-cost and crude forms of recovery methods that lead to severe environmental pollution and create public health hazards," said MA Hossain. They don't need proper certification to export e-waste to China. On the other hand, exporting to developed countries like Japan requires that the dismantlers follow every safety measure, environmental precaution and proper certification. 

The CERM-BUET 2018 baseline survey mentioned that e-waste contains toxic and harmful elements such as lead, cadmium, mercury, beryllium, chromium,  arsenic, chlorofluorocarbons (CFC), persistent organic pollutants such as polybrominated diphenyl ethers and polychlorinated biphenyl. 

CERM-BUET team leader Dr Rowshan Mamtaz said, "Most of the time, the e-wastes is kept in the open air. And there are good chances of leaching of toxic chemicals by rain. The chemicals then will contaminate the soil and the air will be polluted afterwards when the toxic elements mix with dust as particulate matter."

JR Recycling Solutions' Hossain works with the intention of transforming potential hazards into a promising business component. "Bangladesh can generate $80 million from handling and exporting e-waste and the business can create employment of around 50,000 people, according to a rough estimation. But we cannot tap into that potential," lamented Hossain. 

A perpetual delay 

To facilitate environment-friendly e-waste management and cash in on the business's export potential, certified handlers have been asking the government to implement the e-waste management rules with immediate effect. 

It took the government nearly 10 years to enact the rules, after its first draft in 2011. Reportedly, some concerns raised by the World Trade Organisation (WTO) delayed the progress. 

Md Hafizur Rahman, director general of the Ministry of Commerce WTO cell, said that several countries exporting electronics to Bangladesh lobbied WTO for a one-year delay in the implementation of the rule. They also asked us to reduce the standard for lead use in electronic products during manufacturing, he said. 

"We have already delayed the implementation of the rules by one year. We told them the standard for lead won't be reduced," Hafizur said. 

The rules limit the use of chemical substances, including cadmium, to a maximum of 0.01% while lead, mercury, chromium VI, polybrominated biphenyls (PBB), polybrominated biphenyl ethers (PBDE), bis(2-Ethylhexyl)phthalate(DEHP), butyl benzyl phthalate (BBP), dibutyl phthalate (DBP) and diisobutyl phthalate (DIBP) to a maximum 0.1%. 

The DoE set a goal of managing at least 50% of the country's e-waste in five years and 10% in the first year of the effective implementation of the rules. After the WTO's concerns were resolved, quick implementation of the rules was expected. But one year has passed since 10 June 2021. The e-waste handling channel, as per the rules, has not been determined yet.

Razinara Begum, Director (Waste and Chemicals Management) at DoE, said, "The rules suggest that the local government authorities [city corporations and municipalities] implement the provisions while DoE acts as a monitoring agency," adding that the national-level implementation committee sat for the first time on 24 November this year. 

The director didn't reveal the meeting minutes. 

Electronics traders are among the crucial stakeholders of e-waste management, the rules say. They could bridge manufacturers, end users and recyclers. Unfortunately, that particular business community remains in the dark or lacks knowledge about what is going on. 

While enquired about how they will assist to implement the rules, Electronics Traders' Association of Bangladesh President Aminul Haque replied "I know very little about the rules. I can't say anything".