Waste Recycling: Economic Assessment And Heavy Metal Pollution

1. I replaced my mobile phone almost 6 months ago because with the old one I could not download the new software updates. I use to update my phone to the latest available operating systems for the security purposes. It is likely that my phone stays safe from the hackers and the data is protected being vulnerable to the cyberattacks. Moreover, my battery was not working properly. Hence I disposed my old mobile phone to my nearby e-waste recycling center known as the small electrical.  According to the city of Parramatta e-waste recycling system, it is usually recycled by separating the metals and getting the metals extracted from the batteries too. The plastic recovery system is used to recover the plastics from the components since the outer plastics of the mobile phones can be granulated and reformulated for mouldings usage. The other important parts are also used such as the aerials, PCBs, battery connectors, ICs, gold coated edge contracts, the CD screens, microphones, screws speakers and the keyboards. I had removed my personal data for my own security and got rid of the phone in a systematic manner. It took nothing to recycle my old smartphone rather than having the appropriate knowledge regarding where to dispose and how to dispose the e-waste. My knowledge has been facilitated by attending the city of Parramatta waste education programs.
2. I try to recycle most of the household materials such as the paper, glass and scrap metals and in total 80 % of total household materials. I have recycled whatever is recyclable in my household because it is true that if everyone recycles and reuses, the resources of the Earth can be saved that subsequently, reduces the necessity to incarnate, landfill, reduces the pollution and protects the environment. Recycling does not only save the resources, it reduces the saves energy too. It has been found from the reports of the City of Parramatta that the recycling of a single aluminum can save almost 95 % of the energy.  Few of my household wastes are decomposable such as the garden waste, food scraps pets’ food but few are not decomposable. In my household each member takes equal responsibility to recycle the scraps or the wastes. The waste separation process is done at my home rather than dumping all kinds of waste in municipal dustbins and consequently causing harm to the environment. The e-waste might contain substances like mercury arsenic and others which might become environmental time bombs if these are simply dumped in open land.  The recycling of the waste materials in my household has a systematic approach. Since we reside in the city Parramatta, there are also advanced co –mingled recycling bins provided by the council. These bins are helpful in automatically separating the scrap from the garbage. We do not need to go to the bin collection location ourselves. The city of Parramatta council has started their booking system. According to this booking system, the bulky waste clean ups are supposed to be booked before or there will be a charge of $500 considering it as illegal dumping. The city of Parramatta promotes clean environment by providing weekly garbage service to the residents and the public holidays are not excluded from the bin collection days.
3. I would like to make good use of sessions to uncover some weighty topics the industry is facing and what are the benefits of waste disposal by using proper recycling method.  In the live sessions I will emphasize particularly on environmental contamination and how is it degrading the value of life, how it is putting the lives of the employees at risk who are engaged in the e-recycling process and provide them vast information about the chemical batteries, fire hazards and injuries. I hope after getting detailed description of how the pen disposal off the waste and e-waste is hampering the life cycle on the earth, the consumers will become aware and reduce doing such irresponsible activities. There are instances of municipalities which fail to educate about recycling and cannot help the contamination rates rise. However, the city of Parramatta is much concerned about the recycling of the waste materials in order to keep the society cleaner. I would rather join them and continue the sessions along with educational campaigns to awaken those parts of the society too which are in darkness or in lack of clarity and knowledge. Social media can be one of the most effective mediums for spreading the knowledge with messages like “Love Food Hate Waste” and others.
4. The waste recycling system of Australia can be modified and advanced by the help of eRecycling fees incorporated in the price of new household electronic goods. It has been found that the Australians discard almost 20 kg of waste per person each year that includes electrical and electronic goods but recycle only 5% of them. In terms of this, the European countries are more advanced as each person discards 14 kg of e-waste each year and recycles upto 80 % of them. These fees on the purchase of new electronic goods will pay for the future recycling of the products purchased.
5. I believe that the e-recycling of the waste is still not implemented worldwide and it will not be properly implemented if the governments would not take up the initiative of zero waste policy. It has been found that Australia is of the top producers of waste and there are more scrap electronic scrap enters the waste stream.  The government needs to understand the consumer behavior and the competitive environment so that a proper strategy can be built. The facts need to be communicated through the social networking and digital media. The implementation of pricing strategy on the purchase of new electronic products is a powerful strategy because every year a huge amount of money is spent on the recycling of waste materials. Hence, it will bring a new approach to the process if the market is understood properly so is the buyers’ decisions. The marketing mix is useful for understanding the condition of the market properly and at the same time would enable to know how to implement the marketing strategy. 

Cityofparramatta.nsw (2018). Waste & Recycling | City of Parramatta. [online] Cityofparramatta.nsw.gov.au. Available at: https://www.cityofparramatta.nsw.gov.au/waste [Accessed 20 Dec. 2018].

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