For all those, who cherish the increasing base of IT, communication and electronic products in the country, here?s one harsh reality they would certainly like to wish away. E-waste generation from electronic products, which have reached end-of-life, like televisions, personal computers, mobile phones, notebooks, printers and servers, is growing by leaps and bounds. Televisions alone generate 2,75,000 metric tonne (MT) of e-waste, followed by computers at 56,324 MT and mobile phones at 1,655 MT respectively.
Globally, around 20-50 million tonne of e-waste is being generated annually. In India, around 3,82,989 MT of e-waste is generated annually and only around 19,000 MT is actually recycled, says a recent study conducted by Electronic Industries Association of India (Elcina), IMRB International and department of scientific and industrial research (DSIR).
To make matters worse, the unorganised sector handles a whooping 95% of e-waste processing in the country in an environmentally unsound and occupationally hazardous manner. The net result is that it is commonplace to find open burning of wires to extract re-saleable copper, or soaking of circuit boards in open acid bath followed by manual scrapping to extract copper and precious materials next to open drains. A study by environment agency Greenpeace, has confirmed the presence of dust laden with heavy metals in the major recycling hubs of Delhi.
No wonder, e-waste management is fast becoming an issue of environmental and health concern in the country. The illegal dumping of e-waste into India from developed countries because the latter find it convenient and economical to export waste has further complicated the problems associated with this growing menace.
Alarm bells are ringing as e-waste is likely to grow even more as most consumer electronics and IT and communication products experience high growth rates and even faster replacement cycles, despite the recession. Therefore, urgent technological innovation and market intervention in tackling the problem is the need of the hour.
To begin with, the industry needs advanced e-waste recycling facilities, which do not pose a threat to both workers and to the environment. This can be made possible with enactment of existing e-waste guidelines into legislation, provision of appropriate financial and non-financial incentives that will make it lucrative for more private players to enter.
According to the study, over 95% of the e-waste is segregated, dismantled and recycled in the unorganised sector in urban slums around Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangalore and Chennai. Such unchecked activities carried out without proper protection to workers is hazardous not only to labour involved, but also to the environment. In addition, the country loses out on precious metal recovery as unorganised sector is able to recover only 25% of metal as against possible efficiencies of over 95-99% in the organised sector.
Currently, a few players like Sims Recycling and E-Parisara, located in Chennai and Bangalore respectively are operational in the organised sector. These shred e-waste in very small quantities and export the pulverised e-waste for precious metal recovery in smelting refineries abroad. The organised sector is unable to displace the unorganised sector as the latter has early mover advantage in procuring e-waste for processing. The unorganised sector has better reach in collection due to the ubiquitous spread of scrap collectors and is also able to offer better prices for the e-waste, informs Mohan Krishnan, senior vice-president IMRB International.
In suggesting a way forward, the study recommends a need to implement the existing guidelines on e-waste into legislation as well as providing appropriate incentives that will encourage growth of organised sector e-waste processing. In addition, the business economics involved in setting up and running an advanced recycling facility in India is adverse as it requires very high capital investments of over Rs 35 crore with no guarantee of good returns.
Albeit in a slow manner, winds of change are blowing across the Asia-Pacific region, if a study undertaken by IDC on IT asset disposals is to be believed. Increasingly, enterprises in the region, including India are becoming more aware of the need to dispose off IT assets in a more environmentally-friendly way.
Naveen Mishra, manager, communications research, IDC India says, ?As concerns over global warming and environmental impact issues gain importance across the world, the Indian mobile handsets industry has also come up with initiatives to address these issues. All major mobile phone vendors in India have launched campaigns to inform mobile phone users the importance of e-waste management. Users are being encouraged to dispose of their mobile phones and accessories responsibly. A few vendors have also placed ?safe recycle? bins at prominent stores and locations, where old handsets, batteries and other accessories may be dropped off for recycling.?
Mishra says, ?In the last 12 months, some leading handset vendors have also unveiled mobile phones made of recycled material. Nokia unveiled the ?Remade? phone made almost entirely of recycled materials like aluminum cans, plastic drink bottles and old car tyres. Motorola developed the ?W233 Renew? mobile phone made using recycled water bottles.? He adds: ?We expect some time for mobile handset users in India to become fully aware of the importance of these issues.?
IDC believes that the impact of European Union (EU) legislation, such as the waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) directive, which sets collection, recycling and recovery targets for electrical goods, will set the standard for organisations in the Asia-Pacific region, even if they are not directly required to comply with the regulation.
Similarly, initiatives such as the electronic product environmental assessment tool (EPEAT), which is now a US federal government procurement requirement and additional EU legislation in the form of the restriction on the use of certain hazardous substances (RoHS) directive, are ensuring organisations assess the extent of potentially toxic materials being used in IT equipment that vendors are bringing to the market.
