Projection by International Association of Electronic Recycler (IAER).
- 3 billion electronic and electrical appliances became WEEE in 2010.
- Globally about to 20 – 50 million tonnes of E-Waste are disposed of each
year.
- Which accounts for 5% of all Municipal Solid Waste.
According to Comptroller and Auditor-General’s (CAG) Report, over 7.2
MT of Industrial Hazardous Waste, 4 lakh Tonnes of electronic waste, 1.5
MT of Plastic waste, 1.7 MT of medical waste and 48 MT of municipal
waste are generated in the country annually.
- CPCB has estimated that E-Waste exceeded 8 lakh tonnes mark in 2012.
Contd………….
- There are 10 states that contribute to 70% of the total E-Waste generated in the
country.
- 65 cities generate more than 60% of the total E-Waste in India.
- Among the top ten cities generating E-Waste, Mumbai ranks first followed by
Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Pune, Surat &
Nagpur.
- Main source of electronic waste in India are the government, public and
private (Industrial) sectors – 70%
- Contribution of individual house hold – 15%
- Rest being contributed by manufacturers.
Contd………….
Out of total E-Waste volume in India –
Television - 68%
Desktop, Server - 27%
Imports - 2%
Mobile - 1%
-Despite 23 units currently registered with Govt. of India, Ministry of
Environment and Forest / Central Pollution Control Board, as E-Waste
recyclers / preprocessors the entire recycling process more or less still
exists in the unorganised sector.
-
- It is estimated that more than 50MT E-Waste is generated globally every
year
- A report of the United Nations predicted that by 2020, E-Waste from old
computers would jump by 400% on 2007 levels in China and by 500% in
India
- Additionally E-Waste from discarded mobile phones would be about
seven times higher than 2007 levels in China and in India 18 timers higher
by 2020
- China already produces about 2.3 million tonnes of E-Waste
domestically second only to the US with about 3 million tonnes
Contd…….
- Such predictions highlight the urgent need to address the
problem of E-Waste in developing countries like India where
the collection and management of E-Waste and the recycling
process is yet to be properly regulated
- It may cause rising environmental damage and health
problems of E-Waste recycling if left to the vagaries of the
informal sector
The electronic market in India jumped from US $ 11.5 billion in
2004 to US $ 32 billion in 2009 making it one of the fastest
growing electronic market worldwide with US $ 150 billion in
2010
India’s low manufacturing costs, skilled labour, raw materials,
availability of engineering skill and opportunity to meet
demand in the populous Indian Market have contributed
significantly
India’s large and growing middle class of 320 – 340 million has
disposable income for consumer goods
-Generation of E-Waste in 2012 in India – 8 lakh tonnes
- Annual growth rate of E-Waste generation – 10%
- E-Waste highly complex to handle
- Pollutants and their occurrence in waste electrical and
electronic equipment
Pollutant Occurrence
Liquid crystal Displays
Lithium Mobile telephones, Photographic
equipments, video equipments, batteries
Mercury Components of Copper machines and
steam irons, batteries in clocks and pocket
calculators, switches, LCDs
Nickel Alloys, batteries, relays, semiconductors,
pigments
PCBs (poly chlorinated biphenyls) Transformers, capacitors, softening agents
for paints, glue, plastic
Selenium Photoelectric cells, pigments, photo
copiers, fax machines
Silver Capacitors, Switches (contacts) batteries,
resistors
Zinc Steel, brass, alloys, disposable and
rechargable batteries, luminous substances
Contd…………………
Pollutant Occurrence
Arsenic Semiconductors, diodes, microwaves,
LEDs (light emitting diodes), solar cells
Barium Electron tubes, filler of plastic and rubber,
lubricant additives
Brominated flame proofing agent Casings, circuit boards (plastic), cables and
PVC cables
Cadmium Batteries, pigments, solders, alloys, circuit
boards, computer batteries, monitor,
cathode ray tubes (CRTs)
Chrome Dyes/ Pigments, Switches, Solar
Cobalt Insulator
Copper Conductor Cables, copper ribbons, coils,
circuitry, Pigments
Lead Lead reachable batteries, solar, transistors,
lithium batteries, PVC (polyvinyl chloride),
stabilizers, lasers, LEDs, thermo electrical
elements, circuit boards
- Many of these substances are toxic and carcinogenic
-The materials are complex and have been found to be difficult
to recycle in an environmentally sustainable manner causing
health hazard
- The impacts is found to be worse in developing countries like
India where people engaged in recycling E-Waste are mostly in
the unorganised sector, living in close proximity to dumps or
landfills of untreated E-Waste and working without any
protection or safe guards
Currently, around the world, the volume of obsolete computers and other
E-Wastes temporarily stored for recycling or disposal is growing at an
alarming rate causing enormous environmental and health hazard to any
community.
How much waste is in 500 million computers –
Plastic - 6.32 Billion Pounds
Lead - 1.58 Billion Pounds
Cadmium - 3 Million Pounds
Chromium - 1.9 Million Pounds
Mercury - 0.632 Million Pounds
Contd………
Page 2
Storing of E-Waste in landfills - environmental & health hazard
Incineration - environmental & health hazard
Reusing and recycling - limited life span, hazardous in
unorganised sector
.. ... .......
.
·-·..., ..... ._ _...
_....,_...... _. . . . . . . .
... ----
.--
,. , ...,_._..,_
....
-Basel convention on the control of Trans –
boundary Movement of Hazardous waste and
their Disposal, 1989
- Conference of Parties of the Basel
Agreement, 2006 – to regulate the E-Waste
movement
- E-Waste export to the developing countries is
governed by brute global economics
- low enforcement of environmental and occupational
regulations
- low labour cost
India is one of the largest waste importing countries
in the world.
It generates about 350000 tonnes of electronic waste
every year and imports another 50000 tonnes.
