E-waste, or electronic waste, refers to old, end-of-life electronic devices such as TVs, computers, phones, and other electronics. It is difficult to quantify the total amount of e-waste globally due to much of it being undocumented or categorized differently in different areas. Estimates suggest around 40 million tons of e-waste are generated worldwide annually. Only about 13% of e-waste is properly recycled, with the rest often being shipped illegally to developing countries or improperly disposed of. E-waste contains toxic heavy metals like lead, cadmium, and mercury that can harm human health and the environment if not handled properly.

2. E-waste is a term used to cover almost all types of electrical and electronic
equipment (EEE) that has or could enter the waste stream. Although e-waste is a
general term, it can be considered to cover TVs, computers, mobile phones, home
entertainment and stereo systems,– almost any household or business item with
circuitry or electrical components with power or battery supply.

3. Because so much of the planet‟s e-waste is unaccounted for, it is difficult to
quantify e-waste amounts. Moreover, the types of e-waste included in
government-initiated analyses and collection programmes vary from country to
country. Under the current version of the WEEE Directive, the EU has 10 distinct
product categories, whereas in North America it is typically limited to Information
and Communications Technology (ICT) products and televisions and in Japan to
four product categories including TVs, air conditioners, refrigerators and washing
machines. The deviation in categorization of e-waste notwithstanding, reasonable
estimates are in the order of 40 million tones p.a., which is enough to fill a line of
dump-trucks stretching half way around the globe. A recent review of European
legislation on e-waste, known as the “Waste Electrical Electronic Equipment
(WEEE)” Directive (mentioned earlier), highlights that in 2005 in Europe alone,
there were between 8.3 and 9.1 million tones of e-waste, tendency rising. In
Australia, with an average of 22 electrical items per household, the Australian
Bureau of Statistics has estimated that in the next two years, most of the 9 million
computers, 5 million printers and 2 million scanners in Australian homes will be
replaced. In the US the Environment Protection Agency (EPA) has reported that
the US generated 1.9 to 2.2 million tones of e-waste in 2005, with only 12.5%
collected for recycling .

4. 1)53 million tons electronic waste generated worldwide in 2009. Only about
13% was recycled.
2) E-waste is growing exponentially simply because the markets in which
these products are produced are also growing rapidly as many parts of the
world cross over to the other side of the „Digital Divide‟. For example,
between 2000 and 2005, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and
Development (OECD) notes a 22% growth in Information and
Communications Technology (ICT) in China . Furthermore, China was the
6th largest ICT market in 2006, after the US, Japan, Germany, UK
and France . This is astounding when one considers that just ten years ago,
under 1% of China‟s population owned a computer .
3) Cadmium can bio-accumulate in the environment and is extremely
toxic to humans, in particular adversely affecting kidneys and bones .
It is also one of the six toxic substances that has been banned in the
European Restriction on Hazardous Substances. Beyond CRT monitors,
plastics, including polyvinyl chloride (PVC) cabling is used for printed
circuit boards, connectors, plastic covers and cables.
4) Electrical goods contain a range of other toxic substances such as lead
(Pb), beryllium (Be), brominated flame retardants and polychlorinated
biphenyls(PCB) just to name a few.

6. THE MAJOR TYPES 10 OF E-WASTE ARE-:
1) LCD T.V.‟S
2) COMPPUTER MOUSE
3) COMPUTER KEYBOARDS
4) COMPUTER HARD-DRIVES
5) COMPUTER RAM‟S
6) MOTHERBOARDS AND CHIPSETS
7) AIR-CONDITIONERS
8) REFRIGERATORS
9) WASHING MACHINES

7. THE MAJOR COUNTRIES PRODUCING E-WASTE ARE AS FOLLOWS-:
1)UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
2)JAPAN
3)GERMANY
4)UNITED KINGDOM
5)FRANCE
6)CHINA

8. Because of the complex composition of valuable and hazardous substances in E-
Waste , specialized, often “high-tech” methods are required to process E-Waste
in ways that maximize resource recovery and minimize potential harm to humans
or the environment. Unfortunately, the use of the these specialized methods is
rare, with much of the world‟s e-waste traveling great distances, mostly to
developing countries, where crude techniques are often used to extract precious
materials or recycle parts for further use. These “backyard” techniques pose
dangers to poorly protected workers and their local natural environment.
Moreover, they are very inefficient in terms of resource recovery as recycling in
these instances usually focuses on a few valuable elements like gold and copper
(with often poor recycling yields), while most other metals are discarded and
inevitably lost. In this sense it can be demonstrated that resource efficiency is
another important dimension in the E-Waste discussion in addition to the
ecological, human security, economical and societal
aspects.

9. In summary one can clearly grasp and
understand the e-waste problem is of global
concern because of the nature of production
and disposal of waste in a globalized world.
Although it is difficult to quantify global e-
waste amounts, we do know that large
amounts are ending 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.
There is a long and often complicated chain of
events in the e-waste problem, beginning from
an idea that someone has for a new product
and then its production, ending in its purchase
and eventual disposal by the end user. By
engaging with various stakeholders and
relevant scientific wisdom within this chain of
events, we are on the way to Solve the E-waste
Problem (STEP) .