e-waste to increase significantly in Dubai

BY PMA RASHEED
The Gulf-Today, 1 Aug 2009

The volume of hazardous e-waste in Dubai will rise four times higher in the coming three years, compared to the previous years’ production of the electronic related garbage, according to an expert.
Dubai will produce 46 million tonnes of waste alone by 2012, a massive increase from the 12 million it produced in 2006. Only a small percentage of e-waste is recycled at present.
Ahmad Zeidan, Channel Sales Manager of networking products provider Netgear Middle East, said, “The efforts for recycling e-waste in the country are still in their infancy, so the rising clamour for environmental responsibility across the IT sector in emirate has to be responded effectively.”
“Meanwhile, the ‘Electronics Recycling and E-waste Issues’ report reveals that the volume of e-waste generated globally will hit about 73 million metric tonnes by the year 2015,” he added.
Zeidan noted, “Even though, the electronic wastes will continue to grow in the next six years, it can be expected to decline if effective and significant initiatives and practices are applied for recycling electronic goods. Even if some positive calculations are there regarding the decline of the volume of e-waste productions in the future, we have to comply with local laws and regulations wherein we operate.”
According to him, the IT and electronics sectors have to abide by the directives for the recycle, reuse, or reclamation of the products and their packaging.
Zeidan said, “Netgear offers products that promote energy conservation, including "green switches," such as unmanaged desktop gigabit switches, unmanaged rack mount gigabit switches, and smart gigabit switches. Our external power adapters for converting household electricity to low-voltage DC power for many electronic devices also have a dramatic impact on energy usage.”
“We support government initiatives to reduce information technology related waste. We are committed to use eco-friendly components for our line of products, countering the ill effects of e-waste dumping,” he added.
He claimed that over 15 per cent of their customers have adopted their "green" solutions. The firm has achieved Energy Star Level IV efficiency for its external power adapters, which helps reduce the amount of electricity its customers use.
“It is also working hand in hand with the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to offer energy-efficient choices for consumers, helping to reduce greenhouse gas emissions,” he added.