e-waste

Have you ever discarded your old mobile, PC, stabiliser etc. in a dumpster? If yes, you might have had a hand in the increase in toxic pollutants in air. For, the city has been battling with significant increase in the levels of ‘dioxin’ that is released from the 3800 tonnes of garbage produced per day. The mounting e-waste is now causing concern.

Over the past few years, there has been increasing dependence on gadgets like mobile phones, personal computers, laptops, data storage devices, photo copying machines, TV (CRT/LED/LCD), washing machines, refrigerators and air conditioners resulting in the generation of large quantities of e-waste.

The high rates of obsolescence of most of these items, coupled with a steady rise in the demand for such products, have resulted in substantial growth in e-waste generation. According to a UN report, worldwide the generation of e-waste is around 30-50 tonnes per annum.

According to data available with the Environment Protection Training and Research Institute (EPTRI), Hyderabad, occupies the fifth place among various cities, producing 4,000 tonnes of e-waste every year. What’s alarming is that there has been nearly a 25 per cent increase in e-waste generated every year. Statistics suggest that there are nearly 70 lakh mobiles in use in the city and about 25-30% of them are being discarded not at recycling centres (that ought to be there) but in dumpsters.

Electronic equipment has valuable materials and hazardous or toxic substances within their components. After their useful life, the electronic products and electrical equipment may not cause any harm if they are stored properly in homes or stores. However, if e-waste is opened up and attempts are made to retrieve in an unscientific manner some of the useful components or materials that are inside or if the material is improperly discarded in the open, then they could cause health risks and damage to environment.

In general, e-waste can be considered as a resource that contains useful material conferring economic benefits through recovery of plastics, iron, glass, aluminium, copper and even precious metals such as silver, gold, platinum, palladium, lead, cadmium, mercury etc. However, at the same time, the very presence of heavy metals (particularly arsenic, cadmium, mercury, lead etc.) and other toxic substances such as polychlorinated bi-phenyls (PCBs), etched chemicals pose risks to health and environment during handling and recovery operations.

Therefore, e-waste is a problem of increasing proportions, especially when crude methods are adopted for recovery of useful components from e-waste. A retired official with the State Pollution Control Board said that traces of heavy metals in air due to improper disposal of ewaste in the open cause respiratory problems and prolonged exposure leads to leukaemia. The e-waste (Management and Handling) Rules 2011 that came into force in 2012 may say that civic bodies and pollution control board (PCB) should be overseeing the disposal (recycling and re-use) of ewaste.

The rules in the bill say that there should be a separate bin for dumping of e-waste at public places. Sadly, no such thing has been seen in the city. There are a few privately managed e-waste disposal companies in the city that are complying with the rules. An official with Global E-waste Management Systems said that they disposed only about 1,000 kg a month. He decried the lack of required awareness among the public regarding disposal of ewaste, considering that most people simply dump it in dustbins and dumpsters.

All major IT firms in the city are sending their ewaste to Bengaluru, which is one of the best centres for e-waste management. Sudhakar EE, Solid Waste Management, GHMC, told Hyderabad Hans that in the city GHMC was not looking after e-waste and that the Pollution Control Board was responsible for it. A senior official with the APPCB admitted that there was laxity in the implementation of rules regarding ewaste management. He claimed that the PCB was working hard to create awareness among the people regarding the rules.

How E-waste is managed in Bengaluru and Delhi

• E-waste is collected at the place where it is produced

• E-waste is recycled and reused

• Mobiles, PCs, condensers and stabilisers are collected separately

• Recovered chromium, cadmium, lead etc are sent for reuse