Management of the fastest-growing e-waste is a severe problem and has attracted worldwide attention. The electrical and electronic devices have become a part of everyone’s day to day life. Faster upgradation of electrical and electronic product is forcing consumers to add more e-waste to the solid waste stream. The growing problem of e-waste calls for greater emphasis on recycling e-waste. However, recycling of hazardous components in informal sector attracts several health-related problems and pollution to the environment, which call attempts for better e-waste management.

1. E-Waste :
A Hazard to Human Beings &
Environment
Presented by
Dr. Somvir Bajar
Assistant Professor of Environmental Sciences
J.C. Bose University of Science & Technology, YMCA
Faridabad (Haryana)

2. Learning Objectives
• About E-Waste
• Growing concern of E- Waste
• India as growing e-waste hub
• Sources & associated disposal cause
• Introduction to e-waste components
• Health impacts of e-waste
• Management options of e-waste
• Recycling scenario in India
• E-Waste & Environmental Legislations in India
• E-waste management in Chandigarh city
• How to dispose e-waste

3. E-waste – An Introduction
*‘E-waste’ waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE),
whole or in part or rejects from their manufacturing and
repair process, which are intended to be discarded”.
*e-waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 2011
Whereas Electrical and electronic equipment has been
defined as “equipment which is dependent on electrical
currents or electro-magnetic fields to be fully functional”.
It includes electronic appliances such as televisions, personal
computers, telephones, air conditioners, cell phones, electronic
toys, etc. and the list can be further widened if we include other
electronic waste emanating from electrical appliances such as lifts,
refrigerators, washing machines, dryers, and kitchen utilities, or
even airplanes, etc.

4. E-Waste – A Growing Concern
• 20 to 50 million metric tons of e-waste are disposed worldwide
every year. Last year in 2014, 41.8 million metric tons of e-
waste is produced Worldwide
(United Nations University (UNU) Report)
• U.S. is the world’s biggest producer of electronic waste, more
than one million tons ahead of China.
• Up to 90% of the world’s electronic waste, is illegally traded or
dumped each year, according to the UN Environment Programme
(UNEP).
• Computers and smart phones are among the ditched items
contributing to this 41m tonnes e-waste mountain, which
could top 50m tonnes by 2017. (UNEP Report)
• The amount of e-waste being produced - including mobile
phones and computers - could rise by as much as 500 percent
over the next decade in some countries, such as India.

5. E-Waste – A Growing Concern
• Most e-waste in the world in 2014 was generated in Asia at 16
Mt or 3.7 kg per inhabitant.
• The top three Asian nations with the highest e-waste generation
in absolute quantities are China (6.0 Mt), Japan (2.2 Mt) and
India (1.7 Mt).
• The lowest amount of e-waste per inhabitant was generated in
Africa (1.7 kg/inhabitant). The continent generated 1.9 Mt of e-
waste in total.
• Only 7% of e-waste last year was made up of mobile phones,
calculators, personal computers, printers, and small information
technology equipment
• Almost 60 per cent was a mix of large and small equipment used
in homes and businesses, such as vacuum cleaners, toasters,
electric shavers, video cameras, washing machines, electric
stoves, mobile phones, calculators, personal computers, and
lamps. — PTI

6. E-Waste – A Growing Concern
Indian Context
• India is the 5th biggest
producer of e-waste in the
world after U.S., China, Japan
and Germany
• Discarded 1.7 million tonnes
(Mt) of electronic and
electrical equipment in 2014
• UN report has warned that
the volume of global e-waste
is likely to rise by 21 per cent
in next three years. (United
Nations University (UNU) Report)

7. E-Waste – A Growing Concern

8. India: Emerging as e-waste hub

9. E-Waste - A Growing Concern
• 300 million computers and 1 billion cell phones are put
into production each year. This global mountain of waste
is expected to continue growing 8% per year
• 15-20% of e-waste is recycled, the rest of these
electronics go directly into landfills and incinerators (EPA
Report)
• Cell phones and other electronic items contain high
amounts of precious metals like gold or silver. Americans
dump phones containing over $60 million in gold/silver
every year.
• For every 1 million cell phones that are recycled, 16 Mt of
copper, 350 Kg of silver, 34 Kg of gold, and 15 Kg of
palladium can be recovered.

10. E-Waste - A Growing Concern
• Electronic items that are considered to be hazardous
include, but are not limited to: Televisions and computer
monitors
• E-waste is still the fastest growing municipal waste.
• 0 to 85% of electronic products were discarded in landfills
or incinerators, which can release certain toxics into the
air.
• Approximately 80% of e-Waste in the U.S. is exported to
Asia

11. E-Waste - A Growing Concern

12. Sources of e-waste
• Grown exponentially in volume with increase in demand of
IT and its application in the national growth process.
• Discard of electronic items to waste stream is mainly:
• Faster technological innovation and consequently a high obsolete
rate
• Change in lifestyle of an individual,
• Nearing the end phase of their intended usage
• concept of corporate governance, efficiency and e-governance.
• Generated from individual households; the government,
public, private and medical sectors; computer retailers;
manufacturers; foreign embassies; secondary markets of
old computers; and computer waste dumped in India

13. Disposal causes of e-waste

14. E-Waste – A Growing Concern
• Proper disposal or recycling in the present set up is expensive
and technical.
• Managed through various low-end management alternatives
such as product reuse, conventional disposal in landfills, open
burning, and back yard recycling
• Children and women are routinely involved in the operations
• Creates serious worker, community and environmental
problems, not only in production but also at the waste end.
• Much of the heavy metals (including mercury and cadmium)
found in landfills are emanated from electronic discards
• Problem become more complicated with invasion of e-waste
from other countries

15. Toxicity involved with E-Waste
• Contains some very toxic substances, such as mercury,
lead, cadmium, arsenic, beryllium and brominated flame
retardants.
• Create additional toxins, such as halogenated dioxins and
furans, when latter burnt at low temperatures
• Toxic materials in electronics can cause
• Cancer
• Reproductive disorders
• Endocrine disruption
• and many other health problems if not handled
properly

16. Components of e-waste

17. Components of e-waste

18. Toxicity involved with E-Waste

19. Health impact of e-waste
• Arsenic (As)
• Poisonous metallic element present in dust and soluble
compounds
• Sources
• As gallium arsenide within light emitting diodes
• Health impacts
• Skin diseases
• Decrease nerve conduction velocity
• Lung cancer and even fetal

20. Health impact of e-waste
• Barium (Ba)
• Highly unstable in pure form and form toxic oxides when comes in
contact with air
• Sources
• Sparkplugs, fluorescent lamps and "getters" in vacuum tubes
• Health impacts
• Brain swelling (Acute exposure)
• Muscle weakness
• Damage to the heart, liver and spleen
• Increased blood pressure and changes in the heart

21. Health impact of e-waste
• Beryllium (Be)
• Recently classified as carcinogen
• Sources
• Power supply boxes which contain
silicon controlled rectifiers
• x-ray lenses
• Health impacts
• Lung cancer
• Chronic Beryllium Disease
(beryllicosis)
• Skin disease that is characterized
by poor wound healing and wart-
like bumps.

22. Health impact of e-waste
• Brominated flame retardants (BFRs)
3 main type of BFRs are used Including
• Polybrominated biphenyl (PBB)
• Polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE)
• Tetrabromobisphenol - A (TBBPA)
• Purpose
• To make material more flame retardants especially plastic
• Sources
• Combustion of halogenated case material and printed wiring boards
at lower temperatures releases toxic emissions including dioxins
• Health impacts
• Severe hormonal disorders (Thyroid problems)
• Linked to fetal damage and
• Major electronic manufacturers have begun to phase out brominated flame
retardants because of their toxicity

23. Health impact of e-waste
• Cadmium
• Sources
• Rechargeable Ni-Cd batteries
• Fluorescent layer (CRT screens)
• Pinter inks and toners
• Photocopying-machines (printer drums)
• Health impacts
• Serious impacts on the kidneys.
• Acute exposure causes flu-like symptoms of weakness, fever,
headache, chills, sweating and muscular pain.
• Long term exposure are lung cancer &
• Kidney damage
• Pulmonary emphysema
• Bone disease (osteomalacia and osteoporosis)

24. Health impact of e-waste
• Chromium (Cr)
• Widely used because of their high conductivity and anti
corrosive properties.
• Sources
• Data tapes, floppy-disks
• Health impacts
• Irritating to eyes, skin and mucous membranes
• Permanent eye injury
• DNA damage.

25. Health impact of e-waste
• Dioxins
• Dioxins and furans are a family of chemicals comprising 75 different
types of dioxin compounds and 135 related compounds known as
Furans
• Comprising of
• Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs) and
• Polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs)
• Sources
• Dioxins have never been intentionally manufactured
• Form as unwanted by-products in the manufacture of substances as
well as during combustion
• Health impacts
• Malformations of the foetus
• Decreased reproduction and growth rates
• Cause impairment of the immune system
• The best-known and most toxic dioxin is 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin

26. Health impact of e-waste
• Lead
• 5th most widely used metal after Iron, Aluminium, Copper and Zinc.
• Sources
• Solder,
• Lead-acid batteries
• Electronic components
• Cable sheathing
• Glass of CRTs etc.
• Health impacts
• Vomiting, diarrhea, convulsions, coma or even death.
• Other symptoms are appetite loss, abdominal pain, constipation,
fatigue, sleeplessness, irritability and headache.
• Continued excessive exposure can affect the kidneys.
• Particularly dangerous for young children because it can damage
nervous connections and cause blood and brain disorders

27. Health impact of e-waste
Mercury (Hg)
• Mercury is one of the most toxic yet widely used metals
in the production of electrical and electronic
applications.
• Sources
• Fluorescent lamps that provide backlighting in LCDs,
• Alkaline batteries and
• Mercury wetted switches
• Health impacts
• Brain, kidney and liver damage on bioaccumulation if
ingested or inhaled
• Mercury is known to harm developing fetuses and is
passed through mothers’ milk to newborns.

28. Health impact of e-waste
• Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs)
• Persistent contaminants in the environment, accumulate in the
fat-rich tissues (bioaccumulation)
• High lipid solubility
• Slow metabolism rate
• Sources
• Dielectric fluids for capacitors and transformer
• Heat transfer fluids
• Additives in adhesives and plastics.
• Health impacts
• Cancer in animals.
• Serious non-cancer health effects in animals, including
• Effects on the immune system
• Reproductive system
• Nervous system
• Endocrine system

29. Health impact of e-waste
• Polyvinyl chloride (PVC)
• PVC is hazardous because contains up to 56 percent chlorine
which when burned produces large quantities of hydrogen
chloride gas, which combines with water to form hydrochloric
acid and is dangerous because when inhaled
• Sources
• Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) is the most widely-used plastic, used in
everyday electronics and appliances, household items, pipes,
upholstery etc.
•
• Health impacts
• Leads to respiratory problems.
• When burned, PVC produces dioxins- well known carcinogen

30. Health impact of e-waste
• Selenium
• Sources
• Older photocopying-machines
(photo drums)
• Health impacts
• Exposure to high concentrations of selenium compounds cause
selenosis
• Major signs of selenosis are hair loss,
• Nail brittleness and
• Neurological abnormalities (such as numbness and other
odd sensations in the extremities).

31. Management options of e-waste

32. Management practices followed for e-waste
• Product reuse
• Reuse constitutes direct second hand use
• Use after slight modifications made to the original functioning
equipment, like memory up gradation etc.
• Significant number of computers are imported for reuse in India.
These old computers have a limited life span and will end up as waste
sooner or later, adding to the burden of computer waste.
• Conventional disposal in landfills
• The product is dumped in landfill sites where it may remain
indefinitely.
• Highly toxic chemicals found in the different components of a
computer have the potential to pollute soil and groundwater
through leaching.
• About 70 per cent of heavy metals (including mercury and cadmium)
found in landfills come from electronic discards.

33. Management practices followed for e-waste
• Incineration or open burning
• Motherboards are put for open pit
burning to extract the thin layer of
copper foils laminated in the circuit
board.
• After charring it is distilled through
simple froth floating process.
• The ash is washed out and the
copper, with some carbon impurity,
goes to another recycling unit.

34. Recycling scenario in India
• Recycling
• E-waste recycling is presently concentrated
in the informal (unorganized) sector
• Highly local and rudimentary
• No organized collection system prevails
• Operations are mostly illegal
• The human health hazards associated with
the process of recycling or reclamation of
materials from components of computers
are high
• Extremely high environment and health cost
attached to the process
• Process of resource recovery is highly
polluting

35. Recycling scenario in India
• Recycling operations engage in:
• Dismantling
• Sale of dismantled parts
• Valuable resource recovery
• Export of processed waste for precious
metal recovery
• Recycling is helpful only in the recovery of a few
metals and non-metals, including copper, gold,
silver, aluminum, iron, tin, lead and plastics
• Present technology is not useful in recovery of
the other items, such as germanium, barium,
platinum, antimony, cobalt, nickel, etc.

36. Recovery methods followed in informal recycling
process of e-waste (computer waste)

37. Threats to Environment
• Poses significant threat to environment either
• Disposal in landfill
• Some components of personal computers have an essentially
infinite lifetime
• Leach toxins into the groundwater
• Incineration
• Emit toxic air pollutants, including dioxins
• Recycling poses
• Recycling of electronic waste assume serious dimension
particularly when the method of disposal is very rudimentary

38. Concern: Informal Recycling
• High-risk backyard operation
• Non- efficient and Non-
environmentally sound technologies
• Occupational and environmental
hazards
• Loss of resources due to inefficient
processes
• Impacts vulnerable social groups-
Women, children and migrant laborers
Poses significant threat to
environment either

39. E-Waste & Environmental Legislations in India
Various legislations cover different aspects of e-waste
• The Hazardous waste (Management and Handling ) Act, 1989 as
amended in 2008 for Toxic content – registration mandatory for
recyclers
• Municipal Solid Waste Management & Handling Rules, 1999 for
non-Toxic content
• Basel convention for regulating trans boundary movement
• Foreign Trade policy under Foreign Trade (Development &
Regulation Act), 1992 restricts import of second-hand computers
and does not permit import of e-waste (2013)
• ‘Guidelines’ by Central Pollution Control Board ( 2008)
…however there is no dedicated legislation till 2011 for
environmentally sound management of e-waste

40. E-Waste & Environmental Legislations in India
• Title
E-waste (Management & Handling) Rules 2011 published
under the Environment Protection Act
• Objective
• To put in place an effective mechanism to regulate the generation,
collection, storage, transportation, import, export, environmentally
sound recycling, treatment and disposal of e-waste
• This includes refurbishment, collection system and producer
responsibility, thereby reducing the wastes destined for final
disposal
• ESSENCE:
• Producer of electrical and electronic equipments is
responsible for the entire life cycle of its own branded
product and in particular the environmentally sound end-of-
life management and facilitating collection and take back.

41. Salient points of proposed e-waste Rules
• Responsibility of each element in the e-waste Value Chain:
• Producers – Extended/Individual Producer Responsibility
• Dealers
• Collection agencies/ collection Centres
• Dismantler
• Recycler
• Consumer and bulk consumers
• Procedure for Authorization of producers, collection agencies,
dismantlers, recyclers and enforcement agencies
• Procedure for registration/renewal of registration of recyclers
• Regulations for import of e-waste
• Liability of producers, collection agencies, transporter, dismantlers and
recyclers
• Information & Tracking
• Elimination of hazardous substances used in equipments
• Setting up of Designated Authority to ensure transparency, audit and
inspect facilities, examine authorization/ registration etc.

42. How to dispose e-waste
Some relatively safe options to dispose of old computers
Option 1:
• Donate to a school or an organization if in working condition.
• Before donating your computer or other electronics, make sure the
equipment is reusable.
Where?
DonateYourPC.in (or DYPC) is a service which acts as a bridge between people
who want to donate their old PC/Peripherals for charity to NGOs/Schools.
NGOs
Pratham,
United Way of Mumbai,
ChildLine India

43. How to dispose e-waste
Option 2:
• If your computers are out of order, return them back to the manufacturer.
• Recycling electronics helps
• reduce pollution generated while manufacturing a new product
• reduce pressure on natural resources.
• reduces the energy used in new product manufacturing.
• 9 of the 20 brands have no take back service in India: Apple, Microsoft, Panasonic,
PCS, Philips, Sharp, Sony, Sony Ericsson and Toshiba
• Two brands stand out as having the best take back practice in India: HCL and
WIPRO.
• Only two brands, Acer and HCL, have come out publicly in support for e-waste
legislation in India. Positions on this from other brands are not clear.
• No brand has invested much in education and awareness of general customers on
e-waste management despite its tall claim.
• Few brands have taken any initiative to train their frontline staffs on take back
and recycling service.
Option 3: Send obsolete computer to units registered with MOEF/CPCB as
recyclers/re-processors for proper disposal.

44. Thank you