E-waste: An arising theat to environment & health

Electronic waste or e-waste is a combination of used or discarded electronic products that have exceeded their shelf life. It can be defined as items of all types of electrical and electronic products

and its parts that has been discarded by the user as waste without the intention of reuse. It includes discarded electronic devices ranging from large household items to small consumer goods like computers, office electronic equipment, radio sets, electronic entertainment products, cell phone, television sets, refrigerator, Washing machines, fax machines, DVDs and CDs, printers, telephone sets, ACs, music systems, calculators, electrical appliances and their components.

 

Electronics industry is one of the largest and fastest growing manufacturing sector in the world. The rapid changes in technology, falling prices, upgradation of technical innovations, and a high rate of obsolescence in the electronics industry have led to one of the fastest growing waste streams around the globe. Although electronics consist a small fraction of total waste generated, they are far more dangerous.

E-waste worldwide : Recycling was almost unheard of until the early 1990s. At the end of 70s decade new innovations started to appear more quickly, making older equipment considered obsolete.

European and American companies since the 1980’s have been disposing their electronic waste by shipping them to developing countries, such as China, India, Pakistan, Vietnam, Philippines and parts of Africa, thus avoiding the expense of removing items. The developing countries have become toxic dump yards of e-waste, where e‐waste is mostly handled in destructive ways causing damage to human health and the environment.

Now the United States of America has taken initiative through strict environmental guidelines on proper e‐waste management. No longer is waste being dumped overseas in other countries, it is now being processed domestically through profit and non‐profit organizations.

E-waste amounting to 50 million tones are being generated globally each year and India accounts for nearly 2.7 million tonnes. The United States of America alone is estimated to discard about 30 million computers each year and Europe contributing about 100 millions of telephone instruments in the form e-waste.

Hazardous elements: E-waste mostly contains non-biodegradable elements including heavy metals, plastics etc. and their improper or unscientific processing would damage the  environment . For instance, Cathode ray tubes (CRT)s contain phosphors and relatively high concentration of heavy metals such as Lead, Barium, Cadmium, which can damage human nervous and respiratory system. Fluorescent lamps contain mercury. If a fluorescent lamp breaks, the mercury and other hazardous chemical inside can leach out and poison our water resources. It can even enter our body through the air we breathe.

Other toxins in e‐waste include copper, arsenic (in older models), manganese, cobalt, gold, iron, beryllium, brominated flame retardants, zinc, nickel, chromium, polyvinyl chloride (PVC plastics).

E-waste management is managing the e-waste by reusing, recycling, refurbishing the electronic products in a proper way without harming the natural and human environment. The E-waste management begins at the stage of manufacturing itself. Manufacturing companies can adopt the waste minimization techniques, ie. Production-process modification, Using renewable materials and energy, Designing products to uses least amount of hazardous materials, Volume reduction, Recovery and reuse. Manufacturers must be responsible for educating consumers regarding the potential threat posed by their products

Process of E-waste Recycling: Technology Currently Used in India to recycle e-waste are Decontamination, Dismantling, Pulverization/ Hammering, Shredding, Density separation using water etc. Most electronic waste goes through a recycling system as follows:

1. E-waste collection and transportation
2. Sorting all the items manually.
3. Disassembly and separation of components and raw materials. This is a highly labor intensive process.
4. Items that cannot be dismantled efficiently are shredded together with the other dismantled parts to pieces so they can be prepared for refinement.
5. The finer e-waste particles are then evenly spread out through an automated shaking process on a conveyor belt. The well spread out e-waste pieces are then broken down further.
6. All the magnetic materials are removed using over-band magnet from the e-waste debris.
7. Separation of metals and non-metallic components.
8. Plastic content is separated from glass by use of water.

Data security: There is a severe security threat of identity and data theft if IT equipment is disposed of without the use of a company that is specialized in proper data destruction. A hard-drive without proper physical data destruction can be reopened, exposing sensitive information.

Benefits: Recycling ensures that all the valuable materials used in electronic equipment get re-used in manufacturing of new products. Recycling helps keep the price of raw materials down, which in turn, lowers the costs of the final product. On a larger scale, recycling helps huge reductions in our energy costs. For example:  20 cans can be made from recycled material using the same energy it takes to make one new can.

It is is Earth-friendly. It causes Natural resource conservation. Recycling of metals from discarded electronic devices is considered better for the environment than mining.

One can get money by selling useless items at recycling center. Recycling creates jobs.

Recycling industries in India: In India there is an initiative taken by Attero and IFC(International Finance Corporation), a program named as Clean e-India, which collects eWaste right from users doorsteps and will pay for that and dispose the eWaste in a environment friendly manner or recycle it if possible.

Some of the organizations involved with e-waste magement in india : E-Parisara Pvt. Ltd., Karnataka, Attero Recycling Pvt. Ltd., Uttarakhand, Trishyiraya Recycling India Pvt. Ltd., Chennai.

Govt Rules: E-waste management infrastructure has slowly been improving in India, after the enforcement of the ‘E-waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 2011’ byGovt. of India in May, 2011. According to these Rules, the consumer now has the legal responsibility to dispose of the waste electrical and electronic equipment in the prescribed manner and not by just throwing it into a dustbin or selling it to scrap dealer. In 2016 Government of India has notified the ‘E-Waste (Management) Rules, 2016’ in supersession of the earlier Rules to ensure effective implementation.

Assam Government is planning to implement a project for scientific disposal, including recycling, of e-waste materials generated in Assam. The e-waste plant is likely to come up somewhere in the Chandrapur, near Guwahati. The state generates approximately 14,000 tons of E-waste yearly. (Source: Assam Tribune, 10 February, 2014)

A major concern in Assam, at present, is that the toxic wastes was largely being collected by the scrap dealers or was mixed with municipal wastes and dumped in the landfills, to be burned or leach out and contaminate the soil, water and air. Local regulatory body, ie. Municipality should be strict

There is a huge room for recycling industry to grow in india.

Responsibility of Citizens in disposal of E-Waste: Citizens are the end users of any product manufactured by industries. As a consumer one can bring enormous effort on the E-waste management by taking some important steps for safe and proper disposal of E-waste. include/ For instance, 

1. While purchasing consumers should opt for those products that have fewer toxic parts in them.
2. Consumers can buy only energy-saving appliances to cut their environmental impact.
3. E-wastes should never be disposed with garbage and other household wastes. 
4. Customers should opt for upgrading their electronic items to the latest versions rather than buying new. Use recycled content that are energy efficient. 
5. Consumers can recycle or donate used electronic gadgets to charities or those in need. 
6. By spreading awareness about the damages caused by e-waste to your friends, family and people at the workplace. 
7. Consumers purchase products with strong take-back policies.

Environmental Effects: Improper processing of e-waste leads to adverse human health effects and environmental pollution. Only one third of the total e-waste is recycled globally. Some of the remaining unrecycled waste are burned while the remaining are deposited in the landfills. Combustion of electronics in high temperature releases large amount of toxic chemicals in to the air.

Burying them in the landfill causes the hazardous chemicals leaching from the junked products after time and make their way into the groundwater. This leads to increased incidence of disease spawned by exposure to neurotoxins and carcinogens.

E-Waste accounts for 40 percent of the lead and 75 percent of the heavy metals found in landfills.

e-Waste Awareness: Technical solutions are available for recycling of e-waste. But there is little awareness about the adverse effects of disposing e-waste improperly. A major portion of unused electronic goods are stored due to ignorance and lack of knowledge about how to dispose of it. All these electronic products lie unattended in the offices, homes, warehouses etc or are ultimately disposed of at land filling areas.

 

Recycling is a matter of conscious choice for every citizen. Never push off the idea of recycling thinking that a small gadget doesn’t matter. Even the tiny mobile phone contains toxic chemicals in its components that can cause severe damage to the environment & health. Every small contribution to the recycling movement eventually shapes a better future for the Earth.

Written by Mr. Hirak Jyoti Nath

Reference: www.wikipedia.org, cpbc website E-Scrap Zone http://www.escrapzone.com