Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions from 44 to 50.
Modern electronic devices might look clean on the outside, but inside they contain a lot of materials used in manufacture which may be dangerous to human health. Many countries have refused to make the investment in waste-handling equipment and simply shipped their e-waste abroad, usually to developing nations.
The latest United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report estimates that, worldwide, electronic waste is increasing by about 40 million tons a year. So what can we do about it?
The first thing to do is recognise the problem. We have gradually come to realise that in two ways in particular, modern hi-tech can be bad for the planet. The first is its energy use; the worldwide scale of information technology is so enormous that electronics now produce fully two per cent of global carbon emissions. The other is the hardware, when it comes to the end of its natural life. This, increasingly, is pretty short.
The European Union has recognised the problem by adopting a key principle: producer responsibility. In other words, making it the duty of manufacturers of electronic goods to ensure their safe disposal at the end of their lives.
It also suggests that all countries should start to establish proper e-waste management networks, which could both cut down on health problems, generate employment and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Groups such as Greenpeace have led the way in putting pressure on major manufacturing companies to find substitutes for the toxic chemicals inside their products. Encouragingly, they have had some success in forcing them to develop non-poisonous alternatives to these. This may be the real way forward.
(Adapted from Compact First)
