One Billion Devices

Writer John Sisser Communications intern

Tweet Facebook Share on Google+ Linkedin

We are glad to share Ensia articles free of charge under the terms of Creative Commons’ Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported license. At the beginning of your post, please attribute the writer and Ensia as the original source and link to the Ensia article.

You must use the “Get Article” link below and use the copied text for your repost. Stories may not be edited without permission from Ensia. Please send an email to contact@ensia.com with a link to the republished story on your site once posted.

Images and other visuals are not included in this license. For specific questions related to visuals, please contact David Doody. For other inquiries, email contact@ensia.com.

The post is now in your clipboard. You can paste it directly into the WYSIWYG editor of your site.

August 13, 2014 — Increasing standards of living mean more — literally hundreds of millions more — computers, cell phones and other electronic devices are being deployed in developing nations. But what happens when these hot new devices are no longer wanted?

Researchers from two institutions in India — the PEC University of Technology in Chandigarh and Surya World Technical Campus in Punjab — recently published a study in the International Journal of Environmental Technology and Management estimating the number of desktop and laptop computers that will be disposed of in the developing nation by 2025. In the next 10 years, 126 million desktops and 900 million laptops are expected to exceed their life expectancy, flooding Indian e-waste facilities with over a billion devices containing environmentally toxic arsenic, cadmium, lead, mercury and more.

While the information is alarming, it’s also valuable. Researchers hope the results of the study will help alert policy-makers and planners about the need to cope with the coming e-waste boom and preemptively address potential environmental and public health problems. Photo © iStockphoto.com/hadynyah

Show your support for nonprofit journalism!

Ensia shares solutions-focused stories free of charge through our online magazine and partner media. That means audiences around the world have ready access to stories that can — and do — help them shape a better future. If you value our work, please show your support today.

Yes, I'll support Ensia!

One Billion Devices

You care about environmental issues. So do we!

You're in! Watch your email soon for stories that build awareness and understanding of urgent environmental problems — and promising solutions to those problems.