– says HoD of Department of Computer Science

REALISING the absence of an agency that deals with electronic waste (e-waste) in Guyana, Miss Penelope DeFreitas conducted a survey to ascertain the perception of Guyanese, when it comes to electronic disposal and management practices.

DeFreitas, who is the Head of Department (HoD) of Computer Science, University of Guyana, Turkeyen Campus, carried out the survey among some 10,000 university students and staff.

Sharing her findings, through a seminar at the campus, (on Friday, February 22, 2019), Defreitas concluded that Guyana definitely needs to do more, when it comes to managing e-waste.

E-waste, as defined by the HoD in her presentation, are electronic products, such as computers, TVs, Monitors, cell phones, VCRs, Players, Fax Machines and Printers, that have become unwanted, non-working or obsolete, and have reached the end of their useful life.
These electronic products, if disposed of into the environment, can cause tremendous harm to not only the environment, but to the health of human beings.

“When it gets out into the environment, through actions of the environmental factors like rain and sun, it starts to break down. Then is when chemicals get released. Also when you burn them, toxins get released into the atmosphere. These chemicals and toxins pose many health risks to human beings. They can be released into the air, water, soil, and come into contact with humans, causing cancer, birth defects, brain damage, heart and lung damage, and many others. It may not affect us now, but 10, 20, 30 years from now, if there is a surge in cancers, people are going to wonder what’s going on,” DeFreitas said.
From the survey conducted, quite a number of persons said that they throw their devices away, and some even said that they burn their devices.

DeFeitas said that this should be a major cause of concern to the key players, like the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Mayor and City Council (M&CC).

She stated that the EPA had been making efforts, through the Environmental Protection Act Chapter 20:05 of the Laws of Guyana, but it speaks to solid waste and hazardous materials, broadly. However, she believes that it deserves specific and in-depth attention.
“Despite the presence of the act, EPA has not been conducting any studies to track the disposal habits of citizens. I was made aware of the first e-waste export company, ‘Eternity Investment’, that was established in 2018, by EPA. They collect electronic waste and they export it to Korea to be recycled. But I have to call and find out what really happens, because it’s a meticulous process… I was told by EPA, if you don’t have the exact weight, numbers of items in there, the container can be rejected and sent all the way back to Guyana,” DeFreitas disclosed.

She also highlighted that there are quite a number of manufacturers who have a system where persons can return their e-waste to them. However, from the survey, a large number of persons said that they do not return items to manufacturers because they fear that their data would get exposed. As such, they either keep the items, burn them, or throw them into the garbage.

This is why the HoD believes that there is need for an organised collecting agency that can assist with collecting and wiping data off devices, so that persons can feel more comfortable disposing their e-waste, the environmentally-friendly way.

DeFreitas shared that her next steps were to expand the group to include individuals with primary level education, determine the stakeholders that were engaged in addressing the challenge of e-waste in Guyana, determine the general approach to e-waste management in Guyana’s IT service sector, and to share findings with special interest groups: EPA and other relevant agencies, so as to protect the future of Guyana.