400,000 tons of electronic waste are produced in Iran every year, but according to the investigation of the Tehran Chamber of Commerce, both the environmental consequences and the economic value of this amount of waste are ignored.
In its report, the Deputy Economic Research Department of the Tehran Chamber of Commerce has called Iran “the largest consumer market for computer parts in the region” and says that a significant amount of electronic and electrical waste is produced in Tehran, which increases its population every day, and service, commercial, production, and industrial, and most importantly ministries, departments and organizations are located in it.
The Tehran Chamber of Commerce emphasizes by stating these statistics: “Due to the lack of a comprehensive plan and culture of recycling electrical and electronic waste, it can be said that the environment of the country and the province is in danger and its economic opportunity is neglected.”
The report “Overview of the status of electrical and electronic waste” with reference to the law such as “Regulations and methods of executive management of electrical and electronic waste” and the implementation of the “Electrocup” project to collect this waste in Tehran says:
Most of electronic and electronic waste are still sent to burial centers without separation with urban waste; While elements such as mercury, lead and chromium enter the environment and cause soil and groundwater pollution, while 70% of heavy metal pollution in leachate is related to electrical and electronic waste. At the same time, not paying enough attention to the recycling of this type of waste causes the loss of a significant amount of valuable elements and metals such as gold, silver and copper.
– Vice President of Economic Investigations of the Tehran Chamber of Commerce
The report continues:
Although there is no accurate information on the production and recycling of electronic and electrical waste in Iran, and it seems that the informal sector is more active in collecting and recycling this type of waste, it is said that about 400,000 tons of electronic waste are produced in the country every year. which, if properly collected and recycled, can create billions of Tomans in economic value. However, e-waste management is not done well in our country and this huge economic opportunity is largely ignored.
The rapid process of digitalization in recent decades has caused the demand for electronic equipment to increase in an unprecedented way; This trend has both changed our way of life and made communication with the farthest parts of the earth possible and has led to the global crisis of electronic waste.
Some time ago, “Zumit” in a report titled “Electronic waste in the hands of the mafia; In order to extract gold, PCB boards are burned in brick kilns.” He wrote: “The wave of the crisis of electronic pollution, which was mostly aimed at the industrialized and advanced countries of the world, has now reached the developing countries. This is the fastest waste flow and sooner or later its signs will be seen in Iran as well.”
In its latest report, the United Nations Environment Department has announced that the rate of increase in electronic and electrical waste (E-waste) is five times higher than the documented rate of electronic waste recycling. In other words, while e-waste is increasing rapidly, the recycling rate is significantly slower.
We don’t have any statistics about Iran’s future predictions, but globally, the annual production of electronic waste is increasing by 2.6 million tons annually, and it is expected to reach 82 million tons by 2030, which represents an increase of 33% compared to last year. It will be 2022.
Based on this analysis, less than a quarter of the record 62 billion kilograms of e-waste produced in the world in 2022 has been recycled.
In the conclusion of its report, the Tehran Chamber of Commerce has presented solutions to manage this threat by referring to the negative environmental and health effects caused by the informal disposal of electronic waste and pollution caused by improper recycling methods.
Raising the costs of informal recycling, checking and inspecting electrical and electronic equipment from the point of view of having dangerous substances in the production place or in the market, reducing the import of electrical and electronic products and controlling when importing from the point of view of having dangerous substances, disassembling reusable parts, upgrading or Recovery from other parts and safe disposal of remaining parts are among these solutions.
Also, banning and prohibiting the burning of electronic waste, importing or producing computers with the ability to be upgraded and more durable, determining stations for receiving and delivering this waste, investing in the field of infrastructure and waste recovery technologies, and making the manufacturer responsible are other solutions that the Tehran Chamber of Commerce in its report refers to it.
Finally, this report emphasizes the implementation of existing laws and regulations and says: “The full implementation of the rules and methods of executive management of electrical and electronic waste and the creation of the necessary infrastructure for the collection, separation and recycling of these wastes can have positive effects on the country’s economy and environment. . Considering the high value of materials in electronic waste and the environmental risks caused by their improper management, the need for comprehensive planning and effective implementation of laws related to electronic waste management is felt more than ever.”
