The document discusses the growing problem of electronic waste (e-waste), highlighting the environmental and health risks associated with improper disposal and the significant economic potential for recycling it properly. It emphasizes the large volume of e-waste generated globally, particularly in developing countries like India, and calls for better regulations, increased recycling efforts, and consumer awareness to mitigate the impacts. Furthermore, it outlines various classifications of e-waste, the harmful materials it contains, and the current and potential solutions to address the burgeoning e-waste crisis.

1. Electronic Waste: Silent Killer
1. ​Introduction​:
Falling prices now make electronic and electrical devices affordable for most people
worldwide while encouraging early equipment replacement or new acquisitions in
wealthier countries. But what happens to the discarded electronic equipments?
Electronic waste or commonly known as E-Waste is any electronic item which has
reached its end-of-life and is discarded. Used electronics which are destined for reuse,
resale, salvage, recycling, or disposal are also considered e-waste.​[1] ​
CPU, monitors,
laptops, Refrigerator, Air Conditioner, Iron, Solar panels, etc are some of the many
examples of e-waste.
Most of the global e waste is exported to developing countries such as India, China,
Bangladesh, Pakistan and African countries where labour is cheap and no strict laws to
look after the amount of import. Agbogbloshie, city in Ghana is one of the worst affected
from e waste.​[7]
Agbogbloshie, Ghana
The world produces as much as 50 million tonnes of electronic and electrical waste
(e-waste) a year, weighing more than all of the commercial airliners ever made. ​[2]
Country/ Region Per Capita E Waste
Generation (in kg)
Australia, New Zealand 17.3
Europe 16.6
US 11.6
World 6.1
Asia 4.2

2. Africa 1.9
[ Data Source: UN University​[5]​
]
E waste contains harmful materials such as lead, cadmium, mercury, beryllium or
brominated flame retardants which can affect the environment along with human health,
given the e waste is not disposed properly. Some of it contains precious and rare
elements such as gold, silver, copper, aluminium or other components.
E waste is worth over $62.5 billion industry​[1]​
and if proper processing of e waste is done
alongwith proper collection, a great impact can be made to the environment. As much
as 7% of the world’s gold may currently be contained in e-waste, with 100 times more
gold in a tonne of e-waste than in a tonne of gold ore. Also the pollution caused by
mining the earth for precious metals is more than extracted from e waste .
2. ​Classification​[5]​
:
1. Small Equipments​: Vacuum cleaners, microwaves, ventilation equipment,
toasters, electric kettles, electric shavers, scales, calculators, radio sets, video
cameras, electrical and electronic toys, small electrical and electronic tools, small
medical devices, small monitoring and control instruments.
2. Large Equipments​: Washing machines, clothes dryers, dish-washing machines,
electric stoves, large printing machines, copying equipment, photovoltaic panels.

3. 3. Temperature exchange equipment​: Refrigerators, freezers, air conditioners,
heat pumps.
4. Small IT and telecommunication equipment: ​Mobile phones, global
positioning systems (GPS), pocket calculators, routers, personal computers,
printers, telephones.
5. Lamps​: Fluorescent lamps, high intensity discharge lamps, LED lamps.
6. Screens​: Televisions, monitors, laptops, notebooks, tablets.
3. ​Material found in E Waste​:
Substances found in large quantities include epoxy resins, fiberglass, PCBs, PVC
(polyvinyl chlorides), thermosetting plastics, lead, tin, copper, silicon, beryllium, carbon, iron,
and aluminium. Elements found in small amounts include cadmium, mercury, and thallium.
Elements found in trace amount are gold, siver, yttrium, nickel, lithium, cobalt, etc.
Americium is found in the radioactive source in the smoke alarms. Mercury is found in the
fluorescent tubes. Lead is found in the older “dabba” computers and TVs(in CRTmonitor
glass). Sulphur found in lead acid batteries. PVC is commonly used as an insulation for
electric cables. Gold is found in connecting platings, pins, primarily in computer equipments.
Aluminium & Copper in printed circuit boards, component leads, heatsinks and capacitors.

4. 4. ​Potential Threats​:
1. The data stored in the electronic items can be compromised. It can lead to
privacy concerns. Hard drives that are not properly erased before the computer is
disposed of can be reopened, exposing sensitive information. Credit card
numbers, private financial data, account information, and records of online
transactions can be accessed by most willing individuals.
2. Heavy metals such as cadmium, mercury, lead, beryllium found in e waste is
harmful for the health of human beings. These metals are carcinogenic and can
also lead to neurological damages.
3. The metals from e waste lying in the landfill gets washed off with water and
adulterates the groundwater.
4. Incineration of e waste/ acid bath lead to harmful gases emission.
5. Informal sector workers are exposed to harmful chemical and metals, exceeding
the safe levels of these metals in their body. In a study in India, Co, Ag, Cd, and
Hg levels found were significantly higher in the slum community workers
compared to the facility workers.
6. Children are especially sensitive to e-waste exposure because of several
reasons, such as their smaller size, higher metabolism rate, larger surface area
in relation to their weight, and multiple exposure pathways. Children's exposure
to developmental neurotoxins containing in e-waste such as lead, mercury,
cadmium, chromium and PBDEs can lead to a higher risk of lower IQ, impaired
cognitive function, and other adverse effects.
5.​ ​Current Scenario - India​:
India generates 2 million tonnes of e waste annually and ranks fifth among e waste
producing nations. In 2016-17, India treated only 0.036 Million tonnes of its e waste.​[3]
India is one of the largest dumping yards of the global E waste, often masqueraded in
the name of donations from the developed countries. The cities of Seelampur and
Moradabad(nicknamed as hub of e waste) is flooded with the old used electronic items.
Over 95% of the e waste is treated in the informal sector and in a crude manner in India.
People working in these informal sectors have no proper training and equipments which
are necessary for their safety from the various hazardous problems arising from e waste
recycling.
People working in informal sector work day and night to extract the metals(copper &
aluminium) found in the e waste and/or refurbish the electronic items and sell them to
earn themselves bread and butter for the day. The PCBs, Processors, Motherboard, etc
contain small traces of gold and silver. These are extracted by dissolving the metals
using acid bath.
Laws to manage e waste have been in place in India since 2011 (later amended in
2016), mandating the only authorised dismantlers and recyclers to collect e waste. The

5. rule has strengthened the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), which is the global
best practice to ensure the take-back of the end-of-life products. A new arrangement
called Producer Responsibility Organisation (PRO) has been introduced to strengthen
EPR further. The producers have to meet targets, which should be 20 percent of the
waste generated by their sales. This will increase by 10 per cent annually for the next
five years. The law also says that the responsibility of producers is not confined to
waste collection, but also to ensure that the waste reaches the authorised
recycler/dismantler.
And despite new rules that have come into place to safely process this hazardous
material, close to 80 percent of e-waste i.e old laptops and cell phones, cameras and air
conditioners, televisions and LED lamps continues to be broken down, at huge health
and environmental cost polluting groundwater and soil, by the informal sector. E-waste
is growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of about 30 per cent in the
country.​[3]
India now has 178 registered e waste recyclers, accredited by the state governments to
process e waste.​[3]​
But many of India’s e-waste recyclers aren’t recycling​ ​waste at all.
While some are storing it in hazardous conditions, others don’t even have the capacity
to handle such waste, as per by the report​[6]​
of Union Environment ministry.
The electronic waste sector will create 4.5 lakh direct jobs by 2025 and another 1.8 lakh
jobs in the allied sectors of transportation and manufacturing,​[4]
6.​ ​Possible solutions​:
The evergreen mantra of ​Reduce, Reuse and Recycle​.
Reduce​: Nowadays, new technologies come into market everyday which obsoletes the
devices using the older ones and hence the life cycle of electronics equipments have
decreased. For example, consumers are now buying low cost mobile phones so that
they can easily buy phones when a new major upgrades come in. One possible solution
to mitigate this problem is to use modular phones​[8] ​
wherein we can upgrade individual
components easily.
Recycling​: Properly carried out, it should greatly reduce the leakage of toxic materials
into the environment and mitigate against the exhaustion of natural resources.One of
the major challenges is recycling the printed circuit boards from the electronic wastes.
The circuit boards contain such precious metals as gold, silver, platinum, etc. and such
base metals as copper, iron, aluminum, etc. One way e-waste is processed is by
melting circuit boards, burning cable sheathing to recover copper wire and open- pit
acid leaching for separating metals of value. Conventional method employed is
mechanical shredding and separation but the recycling efficiency is low. Alternative
methods such as​ ​decomposition have been studied for printed circuit board recycling,
and some other methods are still under investigation. Properly disposing of or reusing
electronics can help prevent health problems, reduce greenhouse-gas emissions, and
create jobs. Reuse and refurbishing offer a more environmentally friendly and socially

6. conscious alternative to downcycling processes. If done on a larger scale and with
proper technology, recycling can yield a good amount of return.​[9]
Repair/Reuse​: Consumer demand for low cost products mitigates against product
quality and results in short product lifetimes.​ ​
On the other, manufacturers in some
sectors encourage a regular upgrade cycle, and may even enforce it though restricted
availability of spare parts, service manuals and software updates, or through planned
obsolescence.
Consumer Awareness efforts​: Governments can arrange consumer awareness
programs wherein alongwith the threats posed by e waste, the consumers are made
aware of the economic value of the waste which they are discarding. This incentive may
lead the e waste to recycling centers instead of landfills.The World Reuse, Repair, and
Recycling Association (wr3a.org) is an organization dedicated to improving the quality of
exported electronics, encouraging better recycling standards in importing countries, and
improving practices through "Fair Trade" principles. Take Back My TV is a project of
The Electronics TakeBack Coalition and grades television manufacturers to find out
which are responsible, in the coalition's view, and which are not. Consumers must be
made aware of the buy back policies of different products. Informal Sector workers must
be trained and provided with proper equipments to better handle the e waste hence
helping the environment.
Laws​: It is one of the essential part in managing e waste. It is not enough to make laws,
but they should be strictly implemented. The manufacturers must be made responsible
to enact buy back policies. The import of e waste should be banned. The incineration of
e waste must be made punishable. Proper certification of companies must be done
which handle e waste.
India’s e waste collection is grass rooted while europe’s e waste disposal is most
efficient in the world. Combining the two, an efficient, streamlined, centralised e waste
management system can be created in India which will create new opportunities as well
as help to meet the target of net zero e waste ending in landfills.​[11]
7.​ ​Processing Techniques​:
Electronic waste processing usually first involves dismantling the equipment into various
parts (metal frames, power supplies, circuit boards, plastics), often by hand, but
increasingly by automated shredding equipment. E.g. NADIN electronic waste
processing plant in Novi Iskar, Bulgaria.
In an alternative bulk system, a hopper conveys material for shredding into an
unsophisticated mechanical separator, with screening and granulating machines to
separate constituent metal and plastic fractions, which are sold to smelters or plastics
recyclers. Magnets, eddy currents, and Trommel screens are employed to separate
glass, plastic, and ferrous and nonferrous metals, which can then be further separated
at a smelter.​[10]

7. Leaded glass from CRTs(which is the most difficult to recycle) is reused in car batteries,
ammunition, and lead wheel weights, or sold to foundries as a fluxing agent in
processing raw lead ore. Copper, gold, palladium, silver and tin are valuable metals sold
to smelters for recycling.
References​:
1. [​Wikipedia​] : ​https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_waste
2. [​UN Environment​]:
https://www.unenvironment.org/news-and-stories/press-release/un-report-time-seize-opportuni
ty-tackle-challenge-e-waste
3. [​DownToEarth​]:
https://www.downtoearth.org.in/blog/waste/recycling-of-e-waste-in-india-and-its-potential-6403
4
4. [​Times Of India​]:
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/jobs/e-waste-sector-will-create-half-million-jobs-in-india-
by-2025-ifc/articleshow/68708339.cms
5. [​UN University​]:
https://unu.edu/media-relations/releases/ewaste-rises-8-percent-by-weight-in-2-years.html
6. [​The Hindu​]:
https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/recyclers-storing-e-waste-hazardously-govt-report/arti
cle25051554.ece
7. [​Youtube Video​]: ​https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mleQVO1Vd1I
8. [​Wikipedia​]: ​https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modular_smartphone
9. [​YourStory​]: ​https://yourstory.com/2017/08/namo-e-waste-green-startup
10. [Youtube Video]: ​https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0ikFMTuS9c
11. [​The Hindu​]:
https://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/energy-and-environment/what-about-e-waste/article241930
81.ece