3. E-Waste
Electronic waste(e-waste) can be defined as electronic
equipments or products connects with power plug,
batteries which have become obsolete due to:
1. Advancement in Technology
2. Changes in Fashion, Style and Status
3. Changing Configuration
4. Attractive Offers from Manufacturers
5. Small Life of Equipments
6. Nearing the end of their useful life
6. Is It Hazardous Waste
E-waste contains several different substances and
chemicals, many of which are toxic and are likely to
create adverse impact on environment and health, if
not handled properly.
However, classification of E-Waste as
Hazardous or Otherwise shall depend upon the extent
of presence of Hazardous constituents in it.
Constituents of E-Waste:
• Hazardous Materials
• Valuable Materials
7. Sources of Constituent Health Effects
E-Waste (Hazardous)
Solder in printed circuit Lead (PB) •Damage to central and
boards, glass panels and peripheral nervous systems,
gaskets in computer blood systems and kidney
monitors damage.
•Affects brain development
of children.
Chip resistors and Cadmium (CD) •Toxic irreversible effects on
semiconductors human health.
•Accumulates in kidney and
liver.
•Causes neural damage.
Relays and switches, printed Mercury (Hg) •Chronic damage to the
circuit boards brain.
•Respiratory and skin
disorders due to
bioaccumulation in fishes.
8. Sources of Constituent Health Effects
E-Waste (Hazardous)
Front panel of CRTs Barium (Ba) Short term exposure
causes:
Muscle weakness;
Damage to heart, liver and
spleen.
Cabling and computer Plastics including PVC Burning produces dioxin. It
housing causes
Reproductive and
developmental problems;
Immune system damage;
Motherboard Beryllium (Be) Carcinogenic (lung cancer)
Inhalation of fumes and
dust. Causes chronic
beryllium disease.
Skin diseases such as warts
9. Valuable Materials
Sources of Constituent Uses
E-Waste (Valuable)
Cable, Housing Plastics Insulation
Funnel Glass in CRTs Lead, Gold Metal joining,
connectivity
CRT Mercury, Zinc Batteries and Switches
CRT connectors Aluminum, Copper, Conductivity,
Silver, Iron Magnetic
10. Management Of E-Wastes
It is estimated that 75% of electronic items are stored due to
uncertainty of how to manage it. These electronic junks lie
unattended in houses, offices, warehouses etc. and normally
mixed with household wastes, which are finally disposed off
at landfills. This necessitates implementable management
measures.
In industries management of e-waste should begin at the
point of generation. This can be done by waste minimization
techniques and by sustainable product design. Waste
minimization in industries involves adopting:
Inventory management,
Production-process modification,
Volume reduction,
Recovery and reuse
11. Inventory Management
Proper control over the materials used in the
manufacturing process is an important way to reduce
waste generation. By reducing both the quantity of
hazardous materials used in the process and the
amount of excess raw materials in stock, the quantity
of waste generated can be reduced.
Developing review procedures for all material
purchased is the first step in establishing an inventory
management program
Another inventory management procedure for waste
reduction is to ensure that only the needed quantity of
a material is ordered.
12. Production-Process Modification
Changes can be made in the production process,
which will reduce waste generation.
Potential waste minimization techniques can be
broken down into three categories:
i) Improved operating and maintenance procedures,
ii) Material change and
iii)Process-equipment modification.
13. Volume Reduction
• Volume reduction includes those techniques that
remove the hazardous portion of a waste from a non-
hazardous portion.
• The techniques that can be used to reduce waste-
stream volume can be divided into 2 general
categories:
1) Source Segregation
2) Waste concentration
14. Sustainable Product Design
Minimization of hazardous wastes should be at
product design stage itself keeping in mind the
following factors.
1) Rethink the product design
2) Use of renewable materials and energy
3) Use of non-renewable materials that are safe
19. Hard Drives
Hard drives, in whole and shredded form, are sent to an
aluminium foundry for processing into aluminium ingots. The majority
of aluminium ingots are used within the automotive industry.
Toner and Ink Cartridges
Toner and Ink cartridges are packaged in a sealed box and
returned to industry recyclers. Some will be remanufactured into new
cartridges, and the remainder that can’t be remanufactured will be
separated into plastic and metal and returned to the recycle chain as
raw materials.
CD ROMs, Sound & Memory cards
For copyright and security reasons these products are shredded
before being sent to plastic and metal recyclers.
22. Recovery and Reuse
This technique could eliminate waste disposal costs,
reduce raw material costs and provide income from a
salable waste. Waste can be recovered on-site, or at an
off-site recovery facility, or through inter industry
exchange. A number of physical and chemical
techniques are available to reclaim a waste material
such as reverse osmosis, electrolysis, condensation,
electrolytic recovery, filtration, centrifugation etc. For
example, a printed-circuit board manufacturer can use
electrolytic recovery to reclaim metals from copper
and tin-lead plating bath.
23. Management Option
Considering the severity of the problem, it is imperative
that certain management options be adopted to handle
the bulk e-wastes.
Following are some of the management options
suggested for the government, industries and the public.
24. Responsibilities Of Government
1. Governments should be responsible for providing an
adequate system of laws, controls and administrative
procedures for hazardous waste management
2. Governments should set up regulatory agencies in each
district, which are vested with the responsibility of co-
ordinating and consolidating the regulatory functions of
the various government authorities regarding hazardous
substances.
3. Governments must encourage research into the
development and standard of hazardous waste
management, environmental monitoring and the
regulation of hazardous waste-disposal.
4. Governments should enforce strict regulations and
heavy fines levied on industries, which do not practice
waste prevention and recovery in the production
facilities.
25. Responsibilities of Industries
1. Generators of wastes should take responsibility to
determine the output characteristics of wastes and if
hazardous, should provide management options.
2. Manufacturers, distributors, and retailers should
undertake the responsibility of recycling/disposal of
their own products
3. All personnel involved in handling e-waste in
industries including those at the policy,
management, control and operational levels, should
be properly qualified and trained.
26. Responsibilities Of Citizen
Waste prevention is perhaps more preferred to any
other waste management option including recycling.
Donating electronics for reuse extends the lives of
valuable products and keeps them out of the waste
management system for a longer time. But care should
be taken while donating such items i.e. the items
should be in working condition.
E-wastes should never be disposed with garbage and
other household wastes. This should be segregated at
the site and sold or donated to various organizations.
27. While buying electronic products opt for those that:
are made with fewer toxic constituents
use recycled content
are energy efficient
are designed for easy upgrading or disassembly
utilize minimal packaging
offer leasing or take back options
have been certified by regulatory authorities. Customers
should
opt for upgrading their computers or other electronic
items to the
latest versions rather than buying new equipments.
29. References
A report on “Electronics Waste (2012). “Dumping e-waste is
illegal now”, The Indian Express, New Delhi, Tue May 01
2012, 03:57hrs
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/dumping-ewaste-is-
illegal-now/943872/
Internet
Google
30. Can anyone say that
Electronic Waste is an
Illegal Offence or not?
31. Yes
Its an illegal Offence
in INDIA from 1st
May 2012.
So from now
onwards stop it.
