4 ways to handle e-waste

Electronic waste is the world’s fastest growing waste and to make matters worse, India is the 5th largest electronic waste generator in the world, discarding almost 18.5 lakh metric tonnes of e-waste annually.

Telecom equipment accounts for 12% of the e-waste alone. India’s e-waste is growing at a rate of 30% annually and a paltry 1.5% of India’s total e-waste is recycled, owing to lack of the necessary infrastructure to deal with the mounting waste. Approximately 40% of India’s e-waste lands in Delhi, with Bangalore and Chennai following closely in tow. According to studies, India is likely to generate 52 lakh metric tonnes of e-waste per year by 2020.

Almost 75% of the total waste is generated by the government, public and private industrial sectors, while 16% is generated from households. Mobile phones, televisions and computers are among the most dangerous items of e-waste as they contain high levels of mercury, lead and cadmium, elements that are detrimental to the environment due to improper disposal.

These mountains of e-waste that reach dump yards are handled by e-waste workers in India who have little knowledge and next to no safety training in dealing with hazardous waste. They are susceptible to a variety of health issues, particularly respiratory problems such as asthma, bronchitis, coughing and choking, among others. Do we have any role to play in changing this situation?

Here’s how you can help to tackle the e-waste problem:

Donate
If you are replacing your old gadgets with new ones, then donate your old gadgets to orphanages and educational institutions who can reuse the gadgets for learning purposes.

Take back programmes
Some electronic companies have take back programmes for old gadgets. Enquire with the brand you use if they have take back programmes. You can also consciously start using only those products that have such programmes in place.

Recycle
There are many ways in which electronic systems can be reused in some other form. Look up on the internet for ways to reuse old computers, which double up as interesting relics if repainted or ipods, which also double up as hard drives.

Expert Disposal
Find out who’s the local e-waste disposal company that ethically disposes off e-waste or refurbishes e-waste and sign up for their services. E-waste disposal companies help rid of e-waste in huge quantities and also help extract metals that can be reused for other purposes.

Educate everyone around about these techniques so that effective e-waste disposal becomes a practice. E-waste, if not controlled can lead to disastrous effects as such as diminishing of natural resources, ground water pollution and soil acidification among others.

Adopt these practices now so that we call can collectively avert disasters that are likely to occur in the presence of our inaction.

Alarm Bajne Se Pehle Jaago Re!

Sources

The Hindu
The India Environmental Portal
The Wealthy Waste
The Live Mint
The Economic Times