IB Digital Society Topic 4.3B Pollution and Waste Revision Notes (SL/HL)

IB Digital Society Topic 4.3B Pollution and Waste Revision Notes (SL/HL) | RevisionDojo

Written by official IB examiners

4.3B Pollution and Waste

The Lifecycle of Pollution and Waste

Follow a device across its whole lifecycle (making, shipping, using, discarding). Each stage leaves pollution or waste. A systems view counts all of it, including the stages before and after the device is in use.
Pollution is the release of harmful substances into air, water, or soil; waste is the discarded material itself. Digital systems generate both, at a scale that grows with every upgrade.
Separate impacts (already emitted or dumped) from implications (growing risk and opportunity as volumes rise), and ask who is exposed, since the burden falls unevenly.

E-Waste: The Fastest-Growing Waste Stream

A discarded device becomes e-waste, the world's fastest-growing domestic waste stream.
The UN's Global E-waste Monitor recorded about 62 million tonnes in 2022, with under a quarter formally collected and recycled; the rest is landfilled, burned, or shipped abroad.
Agbogbloshie in Accra, Ghana became the symbol of the trade: workers burned cables and broke devices by hand, releasing lead and mercury into soil, water, and their bodies.
1. Authorities cleared the site in 2021, but the trade scattered into smaller workshops, moving the contamination rather than ending it. Yet a tonne of phones holds far more gold than a tonne of ore, a real urban-mining opportunity.
Through power and space, e-waste flows from higher- to lower-income countries, exporting harm to where oversight is weaker. Regulators act under the Basel Convention.

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Definition

Paywall

(on a website) an arrangement whereby access is restricted to users who have paid to subscribe to the site.

anim nostrud sit dolore minim proident quis fugiat velit et eiusmod nulla quis nulla mollit dolor sunt culpa aliqua

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.

Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit

Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.

Note

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam quis nostrud exercitation.

Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident

Nemo enim ipsam voluptatem quia voluptas sit aspernatur aut odit aut fugit, sed quia consequuntur magni dolores eos qui ratione voluptatem sequi nesciunt. Neque porro quisquam est, qui dolorem ipsum quia dolor sit amet, consectetur, adipisci velit.

Tip

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit.
Sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.
Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris.
Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum.

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4.3B Pollution and Waste

The Lifecycle of Pollution and Waste

Follow a device across its whole lifecycle (making, shipping, using, discarding). Each stage leaves pollution or waste. A systems view counts all of it, including the stages before and after the device is in use.
Pollution is the release of harmful substances into air, water, or soil; waste is the discarded material itself. Digital systems generate both, at a scale that grows with every upgrade.
Separate impacts (already emitted or dumped) from implications (growing risk and opportunity as volumes rise), and ask who is exposed, since the burden falls unevenly.

E-Waste: The Fastest-Growing Waste Stream

A discarded device becomes e-waste, the world's fastest-growing domestic waste stream.
The UN's Global E-waste Monitor recorded about 62 million tonnes in 2022, with under a quarter formally collected and recycled; the rest is landfilled, burned, or shipped abroad.
Agbogbloshie in Accra, Ghana became the symbol of the trade: workers burned cables and broke devices by hand, releasing lead and mercury into soil, water, and their bodies.
1. Authorities cleared the site in 2021, but the trade scattered into smaller workshops, moving the contamination rather than ending it. Yet a tonne of phones holds far more gold than a tonne of ore, a real urban-mining opportunity.
Through power and space, e-waste flows from higher- to lower-income countries, exporting harm to where oversight is weaker. Regulators act under the Basel Convention.

Definition

Paywall

(on a website) an arrangement whereby access is restricted to users who have paid to subscribe to the site.

anim nostrud sit dolore minim proident quis fugiat velit et eiusmod nulla quis nulla mollit dolor sunt culpa aliqua

Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit

Note

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam quis nostrud exercitation.

Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident

Tip

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit.
Sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.
Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris.
Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum.

Topic 1 - Introduction - Digital Society1 subtopic

Topic 2 - Concepts - Digital Society7 subtopics

Topic 3 - Content - Digital Society7 subtopics

Topic 4 - Contexts - Digital Society7 subtopics

Topic 5 - Challenges and Interventions - Digital Society (HL)3 subtopics

IB Digital Society 4.3B Pollution and Waste Notes

Topic 1 - Introduction - Digital Society1 subtopic

Topic 2 - Concepts - Digital Society7 subtopics

Topic 3 - Content - Digital Society7 subtopics

Topic 4 - Contexts - Digital Society7 subtopics

Topic 5 - Challenges and Interventions - Digital Society (HL)3 subtopics

4.3B Pollution and Waste

The Lifecycle of Pollution and Waste

E-Waste: The Fastest-Growing Waste Stream

anim nostrud sit dolore minim proident quis fugiat velit et eiusmod nulla quis nulla mollit dolor sunt culpa aliqua

Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit

Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident

Unlock the rest of this chapter with a free account

4.3B Pollution and Waste

The Lifecycle of Pollution and Waste

E-Waste: The Fastest-Growing Waste Stream

anim nostrud sit dolore minim proident quis fugiat velit et eiusmod nulla quis nulla mollit dolor sunt culpa aliqua

Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit

Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident

Unlock the rest of this chapter with a free account