E-waste situation in India
Electronic waste, abbreviated as e-waste, consists of discarded old computers, TVs, refrigerators, radios – basically any electrical or electronic appliance that has reached its end-of-life. While e-waste contains both valuable materials such as gold, palladium, silver and copper, it also contains harmful substances like lead, cadmium and mercury. In the absence of suitable techniques and protective measures, recycling e-waste can result in toxic emissions to the air, water and soil and pose a serious health and environmental hazard.
In India, e-waste is mostly generated in large cities like Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore. In these cities a complex e-waste handling infra-structure has developed mainly based on a long tradition of waste recycling. This is mainly operated by a very entrepreneurial informal sector. Rag pickers and waste dealers found it easy to adapt to the new waste stream, resulting in a large number of new businesses focus-ing on the re-use of components or extraction of secondary raw materials. So far, the e-waste recycling system is purely market driven.
Some of the recycling processes are extremely harmful and have negative impacts on the workers‘ health and the environment. A study on the burning of printed wiring boards that was conducted 2004 showed an alarming concentration of dioxins in the surrounding areas in which open burning was practiced. These toxins cause an increased risk of cancer if inhaled by workers and local residents or by entering the food chain via crops from the surrounding fields.
Some of the recycling processes are extremely harmful and have negative impacts on the workers‘ health and the environment. A study on the burning of printed wiring boards that was conducted 2004 showed an alarming concentration of dioxins in the surrounding areas in which open burning was practiced. These toxins cause an increased risk of cancer if inhaled by workers and local residents or by entering the food chain via crops from the surrounding fields.
Watch a short Greenpeace documentary "Where does E-waste end up "...
Initial e-waste situation in India. The e-waste from corporate consumers and households enters a city specific informal e-waste recycling system. The collection and allocation of e-waste is done by middlemen, scrap dealers and rag pickers, also known as «kabadiwalas». The informal recycling system includes acceptable processes such as dismantling and sorting but also very harmful processes such as burning and leaching in order to extract metals from electronic equipment.
 | Harmful techniques like burning wires are common practice in the informal recycling sectors in big cities in India. |
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Electronic waste
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For the EC directive, see Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive.
 | The examples and perspective in this article deal primarily with the United States and do not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please improve this article and discuss the issue on the talk page. (April 2010) |
Electronic waste, e-waste, e-scrap, or Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) describes loosely discarded, surplus, obsolete, or broken electrical or electronic devices. Environmental groups claim that the informal processing of electronic waste in developing countries causes serious health and pollution problems. Some electronic scrap components, such as CRTs, contain contaminants such as lead, cadmium, beryllium, mercury, and brominated flame retardants. Activists claim that even in developed countries recycling and disposal of e-waste may involve significant risk to workers and communities and great care must be taken to avoid unsafe exposure in recycling operations and leaching of material such as heavy metals from landfills and incineratorashes. Scrap industry and USA EPA officials agree that materials should be managed with caution, but that environmental dangers of unused electronics have been exaggerated by groups which benefit from increased regulation.
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TPL is a wholly owned Indian subsidiary of SIMS Recycling Solutions. SIMS group is a USD 8.0 billion corporation having facilities in over 200 locations across the globe. (www.SIMS-group.com). Pioneers in the area of metals and e-waste management solutions, SIMS /TPL partner with many multinational organizations contributing to their corporate social responsibility goals for a eco friendly e -waste management. SIMS works with its clients to establish the best routes for the...read more
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