Software, hard waste

The electronic revolution is welcome, but not an unmixed blessing. It is posing some novel problems that have not got the attention they merit. One such concerns the disposal of the huge amount of e-waste generated by the discarding of electronic goods that have outlived their useful life. Computer equipment, copiers and fax machines, television sets, video cassette recorders and players, and similar other electronic goods are made up of a range of materials, many of which are not bio-degradable, and often highly toxic. The health hazards posed by them have not been fully reckoned as yet. But what has been established is that items like printed circuit boards, disk drives and monitors contain chemicals that have caused cancer or high levels of dangerous chemical accumulation in the blood of the workers involved in their manufacture, handling and recycling.

In the absence of authenticated data, it is broadly presumed that 1.5 lakh tonnes of e-waste are being produced annually, with the metros being the major contributors. Mumbai alone throws up over 11,000 tonnes of e-waste a year. Other cities are not far behind. And, notably, the rate of e-waste generation is going to spurt with time as the use of computers spreads and the average life span of computers and other e-equipment shortens, thanks to continuous technological advancement. Worse still, a lot of e-waste is entering the country through the import of used electronic items and scrap.

Other countries too face this menace, but India is particularly vulnerable because of the lack of a well-conceived policy on e-waste disposal. The country is handicapped also in terms of legislation to deal with this problem and the apathy of e-gadget manufacturers. There is no single option to deal with the problem. Landfilling, the most commonly used method of waste disposal, is not suited for managing e-waste. The way it is practised in the country, it can lead to a leaching down of toxic wastes, besides the release of hazardous emissions, and thus pollute groundwater as well as the environment. Such hazards can be averted, or at least minimised, through scientifically designed and fabricated landfills, involving compacted clay layers and high-density plastic or geo-textile sheets. The question is who should build and operate such landfills. Since there is as yet no system in the country to segregate e-waste from other bio-degradable or non-degradable waste, the job cannot be left to the civic authorities alone. Manufacturers of e-equipment would have to be involved in the proper disposal or recycling of these wastes. For this, today's laws and even legislation would have to be amended to make it mandatory for manufacturers and assemblers to take such equipment back on being discarded by users, and then to dispose them of in an environment- and health-friendly manner. The environment ministry is in fact contemplating a separate law for tackling e-waste, so it would be worthwhile to study the practices followed abroad. Where the induction of such waste from abroad is concerned, it can best be tackled through strict adherence to the convention on trans-boundary movement of hazardous goods.