E-Waste Management In India - Challenges And Opportunities

Growth in the IT and communication sectors has enhanced the usage of the electronic equipment exponentially. Faster upgradation of electronic product is forcing consumers to discard old electronic products very quickly, which in turn accumulates huge e-waste to the solid waste stream. In this article, Akanksha Manish and Dr Paromita Chakraborty discuss the growing problem of e-waste in India and globally while throwing light on the impact of recycling e-waste in the developing world. They succinctly dwell on the challenges and opportunities of e-waste management in India.

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"E-waste poses a huge risk to humans, animals, and the environment. The presence of heavy metals and highly toxic substances such as mercury, lead, beryllium, and cadmium pose a significant threat to the environment even in minute quantities."

Electronic waste or e-waste is generated when electronic and electrical equipment become unfit for their originally intended use or have crossed the expiry date. Computers, servers, mainframes, monitors, compact discs (CDs), printers, scanners, copiers, calculators, fax machines, battery cells, cellular phones, transceivers, TVs, iPods, medical apparatus, washing machines, refrigerators, and air conditioners are examples of e-waste (when unfit for use). These electronic equipments get fast replaced with newer models due to the rapid technology advancements and production of newer electronic equipment. This has led to an exponential increase in e-waste generation. People tend to switch over to the newer models and the life of products has also decreased.

E-waste typically consists of metals, plastics, cathode ray tubes (CRTs), printed circuit boards, cables, and so on. Valuable metals such as copper, silver, gold, and platinum could be recovered from e-wastes, if they are scientifically processed. The presence of toxic substances such as liquid crystal, lithium, mercury, nickel, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), selenium, arsenic, barium, brominated flame retardants, cadmium, chrome, cobalt, copper, and lead, makes it very hazardous, if e-waste is dismantled and processed in a crude manner with rudimentary techniques. E-waste poses a huge risk to humans, animals, and the environment. The presence of heavy metals and highly toxic substances such as mercury, lead, beryllium, and cadmium pose a significant threat to the environment even in minute quantities.