HOBI Weekly Blog Recap (9/26-29/22)
Soccer enthusiast or not, people all over the world have been going crazy cheering on their favorite teams at this year’s FIFA World Cup in Brazil.
Those fortunate enough to have scored tickets to the events are in the midst of the action, but Brazilians without tickets are at home watching on new televisions.
Through the good
…the bad
and the ugly.
Reports show the demand for newer and bigger TVs has spiked during the months leading up to the tournament. In fact, Brazil has been producing 30% more TV sets than last year, which means the host country will have between 18-20 million more TVs than when it started.
Brazil’s National Association for Electronics Producers expects to sell 16 million TVs this year alone!
In all, Brazil saw 1.4 million tons of electronics thrown out in 2012, up from 917,000 tons in 2011, which was the first year the government calculated the country’s e-waste. With the increase in sales, the amount is likely to go up to 65.4 million tons by 2017.
The real kicker? In spite of the volume, Brazil does not have any laws on recycling and handling this type of waste. In 2010, Brazilian government officials signed a bill mapping out a national policy to deal with solid disposal, allotting four years to define specificity with OEMs and electronics recyclers. However, no decision has been made, leaving the burden on each Brazilian citizen and company.
After the games, Brazil will have to quickly decide on future electronics recycling efforts or this time next year the country will be cluttered with abandoned TV sets and parts, posing a potential health risk for citizens and the environment. Not to mention, as Brazil’s middle class increases, the jump from outdated TVs to plasma and LCD produces more hard-to-recycle CRT material.
Ademir Brescansin, sustainability manager at Brazilian Association of the Electric Industry (ABINEE), commented, “Brazil is as big as the US, but development is very uneven in every region, resulting in very different attitudes towards disposal and recycling.”
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