 "E-waste")
India's electronic waste (e-waste) is likely to reach 30 lakh metric tonnes (MT) per year by 2018 from the present level of 18.5 lakh metric tonnes (MT) with Mumbai being the largest contributor to the problem, according to a study jointly conducted by Assocham and Frost & Sullivan and released on ‘World Earth Day’ on April 22, 2016.
As reminder of a major health hazard and risk to environment, the study, released on ‘World Earth Day’ on April 22, stated that India produces nearly 18.5 lakhs MT of electronic waste every year. Mumbai (120,000) tops the list in generating e-waste followed Delhi-NCR (98,000) and Bangalore (92,000). Chennai, Kolkata, Ahemdabad, Hyderabad and Pune find a place in the ladder, at 67,000, 55,000, 36,000, 32,000 and 26,000 metric tonnes per year respectively.
Delhi-NCR figures among top electronic waste generating cities in India, with a ‘garbage output’ of 98,000 tonnes annually.
“The sad part is that mere 2.5 percent of India’s total e-waste gets recycled because of poor infrastructure and legislative framework which lead to a waste of diminishing natural resources, irreparable damage of environment and health of the people working in industry. Over 95 percent of e-waste generated is managed by the unorganised sector and scrap dealers in this market,” said the Assocham-Frost & Sullivan study.
In India, about 5 lakhs child labours between the age group of 10-14 are observed to be engaged in various e-waste (electronic waste) activities, without adequate protection and safeguards in various yards and recycling workshops.
Computer equipment accounts for almost 70 percent of e-waste material followed by telecommunication equipment (12 percent), electrical equipment (8 percent) and medical equipment (7 percent). Other equipment, including household e-crap account for the remaining 4 percent, it said.
“It is a matter of concern that most of our e-waste is handled in the most unscientific way by scrap dealers, who may be inadvertently handling radioactive material, as was brought to light in the past in a Mayapuri (west Delhi) case,” said D S Rawat, secretary general, Assocham, while releasing the paper.
E-waste typically includes discarded computer monitors, motherboards, cathode ray tubes (CRT), printed circuit board (PCB), mobile phones and chargers, compact discs, headphones, white goods such as liquid crystal displays (LCD)/plasma televisions, air conditioners, refrigerators and so on.
According to the report, government, public and private industries contribute more than 70 per cent of e-waste while 15 percent comes from households. Televisions, refrigerators and washing machines make up the majority of e-waste generated, while computers make up to 20 per cent and mobile phones 2 per cent.
|
Strategies to tackle e-waste menace Assocham-Frost & Sullivan study has suggested following ways in which one can tackle the electronic waste issue:
|
These products have components that contain toxic substances like lead, cadmium, mercury, hexavalent chromium, plastic, PVC, BFRs, barium, beryllium, and carcinogens like carbon black and heavy metals. This deadly mix can cause severe health problems in those handling the waste, added Dr Rao. Printed circuit boards, for instance, contain heavy metals like antimony, gold, silver, chromium, zinc, lead, tin and copper. The method of extracting these materials from circuit boards is highly hazardous and involves heating the metals in the open.
Informal recyclers use primitive and hazardous methods like acid stripping and open air incineration for processing e-waste. These methods are highly unsafe and cause pollution by releasing toxins from e-waste into the environment.
However, most of these products can be recycled, refurbished and redeployed going down the value chain and reused by a bit of reconstruction process, reducing overall impact on the environment, Dr Rao informed.
The biggest e-waste recycling market in India is Delhi, with 30-40 percent of the e-waste in India landing in the region. Bangalore and Chennai are the next big e-waste markets. Chennai is the fourth largest e-waste generating city and approximately 5 MT of e-waste is generated every day in the Chennai Metropolitan area.
Most of the e-waste ends up with the informal sector because of the lack of regulations and improper collection centres, due to which scrap dealers have doubled in the city. One kilogram of copper scrap is priced at Rs 350-400, and one kilogram of aluminium scrap at Rs 110-130. Unsafe and crude methods are employed by the informal sector for e-waste recycling. Though the e-waste generated in each of the cities might vary, the fact is that approximately 90 percent of the waste ends up with the informal sector.
