E- WASTE

E-WASTE: AN OVERVIEW
What is e-waste?
E-waste or electronic waste may be defined
as any electronic item or part which is in
working or repairable condition, but which
is dumped or disposed or discarded by the
buyer for purposes other than re-cycling,
and includes residue from reuse and
recycling operations.

E-WASTE: AN OVERVIEW
What can be classified as e-waste?
E-waste comes from any and all sorts of
dumped electronic goods. Discarded PCs
and laptops, cell phones, VCRs, CD players,
television sets, microwave ovens, vacuum
cleaners, digital cameras, calculators or
even batteries are examples of e-wastes.
Who produces e-waste?
From large business houses to the common
individual user, in the 21st century anyone
and everyone has some e-waste to dispose of

THE EXTENT OF THE PROBLEM

With rapid change in technology, electronic devices

become obsolete in one or two years
With little or no re-sale value, these obsolete devices are
mostly disposed of

THE EXTENT OF THE PROBLEM

Statistics:
100 million cell phones are disposed in Europe every
year
USA discards 30 million computers each year
In USA, an estimated 70% of the heavy metals in
landfills come from discarded electronic devices
Only 15 20% of e-waste is recycled
Increased regulation of electronic waste and concern
over the environmental harm which can result from
toxic electronic waste has raised disposal costs

THE INDIAN PERSPECTIVE

End-of-life products find their way to recycling yards in

countries such as India and China, where poorly-protected
workers dismantle them, often by hand, in appalling
conditions
About 25,000 workers are employed at scrap-yards in Delhi
alone, where 10,000 to 20,000 tons of e-waste are handled
every year, with computers accounting for 25 percent of it
Other e-waste scrap-yards exist in Meerut, Ferozabad,
Chennai, Bangalore and Mumbai. About 80 percent of the
e-waste generated in the US is exported to India, China
and Pakistan, and unorganised recycling and backyard
scrap-trading forms close to 100 percent of total e-waste
processing activity

CONTINUE
Many of Indias corporations burn e-waste
such as PC monitors, CDs, motherboards,
cables, toner cartridges, light bulbs and tubelights in the open along with garbage,
releasing large amounts of mercury and lead
into the atmosphere
Toxics Link, a Delhi-based non-governmental
organisation (NGO), says that India annually
generates $1.5 billion worth of e-waste
As per a study done last year by Bengalurubased NGO, Saahas, that city generates
around 8,000 tons of e-waste every year

E-CYCLING
The terme-cyclingrefers to the process
of recycling the components or metals
contained in used or discarded electronic
equipment (otherwise know as electronic
waste or e-waste).