Trashing E-Waste : A Rising Concern

The electrical and electronic waste (e-waste) is one of the fastest growing waste streams in the world. E-waste comprises of wastes generated from used electronic devices and house hold appliances which are not fit for their original intended use and are destined for recovery, recycling or disposal. Such wastes encompasses wide range of electrical and electronic devices such as computers, hand held cellular phones, personal stereos, including large household appliances such as refrigerators, air conditioners etc. E-wastes contain over 1000 different substances many of which are toxic and potentially hazardous to environment and human health, if these are not handled in an environmentally sound manner.

The growth of e-waste has significant economic and social impacts. The increase of electrical and electronic products, consumption rates and higher obsolescence rate leads to higher generation of e-waste. The increasing obsolescence rate of electronic products also adds to the huge import of used electronics products. The e-waste inventory based on this obsolescence rate in India for the year 2005 was estimated to be 146180.00 tonnes which is expected to exceed
8,00,000 tonnes by 2012. There is no large scale organized e-waste recycling facility in India and there are two small e-waste dismantling facilities are functioning in Chennai and Bangalore, while most of the e-waste recycling units are operating in un-organized sector.

We can see that e-waste is a global concern because of the nature of production and disposal of waste in a globalized world. We can also see that although it is difficult to know exactly how much e-waste there is, we do know that large amounts end up in places where processing occurs at a very rudimentary level. This raises concerns about resource efficiency and also the immediate concerns of the dangers to humans and the environment. Such concerns cannot be left unattended, infact, people will have to come together to address them in order to protect the environment from insurmountable dangers.