E-waste Management In India

•    Electronic waste, also known as e-waste, refers to electronic products that have become obsolete or have reached the end of their useful life. It refers to all electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) and parts that have been discarded as waste by their owner with no intention of being reused.

 

•    E-waste is waste generated by used electronic devices and household appliances that are no longer fit for their original purpose and must be recovered, recycled, or disposed of. Such wastes include a wide range of electrical and electronic devices, including computers, hand-held cellular phones, personal stereos, as well as large household appliances like refrigerators and air conditioners. 

•    E-waste contains over 1000 different substances, many of which are toxic and potentially harmful to the environment and human health if they are not properly disposed of.

 

•    Electronic and electrical equipment manufacturing and consumption have increased dramatically over the last decade all over the world. 

 

•    As result of this, combined with rapid product obsolescence and lower costs, discarded electronic and electrical equipment, also known as "E-waste," has become the world's fastest growing waste problem.

 

•    The majority of companies today design their products to be obsolete in some way, whether intentionally or unintentionally. This is reinforced by marketing and retailing practices, and product durability has been replaced as the primary driver by affordability and convenience.

 

•    Major stakeholders in the e-waste supply chain include producers/manufacturers, retailers, consumers, traders, exporters, scrap dealers, disassemblers/dismantlers, smelters, and recyclers.

 

•    Given the volume of E-waste generated and the contents of both toxic and valuable materials in it, E-waste is both an emerging problem and a growing business opportunity. Iron, copper, aluminum, gold, and other metals account for more than 60% of E-waste, while pollutants account for 2.70 percent.

 

•    As a result, E-waste recycling is an important topic not only in terms of waste treatment but also in terms of recovering valuable materials. 

 

•    However, the process of collecting and disposing of E-waste is extremely complicated, involving a wide range of products, a large number of people and businesses, a large geographic area, and a long time span (sometimes exceeding ten years).

 

•    It is a massive and complicated system.

 

•    India is the world's fifth largest producer of e-waste.

 

•    E-waste collection, transportation, segmentation, dismantling, recycling, and disposal are all done manually in India by untrained workers in the informal sector. 

 

•    E-waste is thrown in with garbage, which is collected and segregated by rag pickers, due to a lack of awareness and sensitization.

 

•    E-waste is made up of reusable and valuable materials. Rag pickers make a living by selling E-waste to scrap dealers. Scrap dealers deliver E-waste to recycling companies. 

 

•    Recyclers recycle/treat e-waste using outdated and potentially hazardous technologies and equipment.

 

•    Every year, India produces nearly 12.5 lakh MTs of e-waste.

 

•    In the Environmental Performance Index, India is ranked 155th out of 178 countries. 

 

•    It also scores poorly on a number of indicators, including Health Hazards (127), Air Quality (174), and Water and Sanitation (124). E-waste Environmentally Sound Management (ESM) will also help India improve its rankings in these areas. 

 

•    Many developed countries use India as a dumping ground for e-waste. The percentage share of e-waste imports from various countries in India is shown in the graph.

 

•    In terms of country share in India's e-waste imports, the United States has a maximum share of around 42 percent, China has a share of around 30 percent, Europe has a share of around 18 percent, and the remaining 10% comes from other countries such as Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan. 

 

•    Ten states and the District of Columbia account for 70% of all e-waste generated in the country. While 65 cities account for more than 60% of India's total e-waste.

 

•    E-waste is not inherently dangerous. 

 

•    The hazardous constituents present in e-waste, on the other hand, make it dangerous when it is dismantled and processed, because it is only at this point that it poses a health and environmental risk. 

 

•    Electronics and electrical equipment appear to be efficient and environmentally friendly, but once they become e-waste, they pose hidden dangers. 

 

•    If electronics products are not properly processed prior to disposal, the harmful materials contained in them, combined with the rapid rate at which we replace outdated units, pose a serious threat to human health. 

 

•    Electronics, such as computers and cell phones, contain a variety of toxins. 

 

•    Heavy metals such as lead, barium, and cadmium, for example, can be found in computer monitor cathode ray tubes (CRTs), which can be extremely harmful to human health if they enter the water system. 

 

•    These materials have the potential to harm the nervous and respiratory systems of humans.

 

•    Electronics casings made of flame-retardant plastics release particles that harm human endocrine functions. These are the kinds of things that can happen if unprocessed e-waste is thrown away without being processed.

 

1.    Larger production: The amount of e-waste produced India ranks fifth in the world in terms of e-waste generation, producing around 1.7 million metric tons per year. 

 

2.    Child Labor Involvement in India, approximately 4.5 lakh child laborers between the ages of 10 and 14 have been observed working in various E-waste yards and recycling workshops without adequate protection and safeguards. As a result, effective legislation is urgently needed to prevent child labor from entering the E-waste market, including its collection, segregation, and distribution. 

 

3.    Legislation that is ineffective on the majority of SPCB/PCC websites, there is no public information. 15 of the 35 PCBs/PCCs have no E-waste information on their main public interface point, their websites. Even the most basic E-waste regulations and guidelines have yet to be uploaded. 

 

4.    Lack of responsibilities: Citizens and institutional generators of E-waste are completely at a loss to deal with their waste and do not know how to fulfil their responsibility due to the lack of information on their website, particularly on details of recyclers and collectors of E-waste. As a result, the successful implementation of the E-waste Management and Handling Rules, 2012 has failed. 

 

5.    Inadequate infrastructure: There is a huge disparity between current recycling and collection facilities and the amount of E-waste generated. There are no collection or return mechanisms in place. There aren't enough recycling bins. 

 

6.    Health Risks: Over 1,000 toxic materials are found in e-waste, contaminating soil and ground water. Headaches, irritability, nausea, vomiting, and eye pain can all be symptoms of exposure. Recyclers are at risk of developing liver, kidney, and neurological problems. They are endangering their health and the environment due to a lack of awareness. 

 

7.    No incentive programs: There are no clear guidelines for how the unorganized sector should handle E-waste. There are also no incentives mentioned to entice people involved to follow a formal path for dealing with E-waste. The informal recycling sector has slightly worse working conditions than the formal recycling sector. There are no incentive programs for producers who help with e-waste management.

 

8.    Lack of awareness and sensitization: After determining the end of useful life, there is limited outreach and awareness about disposal. Moreover, when disposing of old electrical and electronic equipment, only 2% of people consider the impact on the environment.

 

9.    Imports of e-waste: Cross-border flow of waste equipment into India: E-waste from developed countries is sent to developing countries like India, China, Ghana, and Nigeria for recycling.

 

10.    The authorities' reluctance to get involved: Lack of coordination between various authorities in charge of E-waste management and disposal, including municipalities' non-involvement.

 

11.    Consequences for security: End-of-life computers frequently contain sensitive personal information and bank account information that, if not deleted, could lead to fraud.

 

12.    Insufficient research: The government should support research into the development of hazardous waste management standards, environmental monitoring, and hazardous waste disposal regulation.

 

13.    High cost of setting up recycle facility: Furthermore, advanced technology recycling projects (including metallurgy and nonferrous metals refining) have a greater economic disadvantage than basic process activities and are not economically viable in general. 

 

•    Except for a few, formal recycling companies in India are limited to pre-processing of e-waste material, with crushed e-waste containing precious metals being shipped to smelting refineries outside India.

 

•    Due to difficulties in sourcing e-waste and partly due to the difficulty of making such high-end investments in such superior and costly technologies profitable, India's formal sector still has a long way to go in adopting state-of-the-art technologies for e-waste recycling.

 

•    The Policy will cover everything from production and trade to final disposal, including technology transfers for electronic waste recycling. 

 

•    Clear regulatory instruments should be in place to control both legal and illegal e-waste exports and imports, as well as to ensure their environmentally sound management. 

 

•    There is also a need to address the legal loopholes in place to ensure that e-waste from developed countries does not end up in the country for disposal. 

 

•    These aspects must be monitored by the Port and Customs authorities. 

 

•    E-waste should not be disposed of in municipal landfills, and owners and generators of e-waste should be encouraged to recycle them properly. Product manufacturers must be held financially, physically, and legally accountable for their work.

 

1.    A domestic legal framework to address the gaps in E Waste import regulations.

 

2.    There is a need to address the safe disposal of household waste.

 

3.    Make recycling and product return a team effort.

 

4.    Imports of E waste for reuse and recycling should be addressed in the Framework.

 

5.    Attract funding for this industry.

 

6.    Connect the informal and formal sectors' activities.

 

7.    Provide a framework for processes that is appropriate.

 

8.    Encourage the use of appropriate ESM technologies for recycling.

 

9.    Apply precautionary principles and the polluter pays principle.

 

10.    Demand that products be processed in the United States.

 

11.    Next, make sure the company you choose can handle all types of E-Scrap.

 

12.    Encourage generators to use recycling units to make the process easier and to encourage proper e-waste disposal.

 

13.    Provide generators with e-waste handling training.

 

14.    Recycling education program

 

15.    Assign recyclers duties and responsibilities.

 

16.    Scrap dealers are eligible for tax breaks.

 

E-waste management performance and non-compliance reward and reprimand schemes