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ELECTRONIC WASTE MANAGEMENT IN INDIA–ISSUES AND STRATEGIES
KURIAN JOSEPH
Centre for Environmental Studies, Anna University, Chennai, India
Phone: 91-44-22301283; Fax: 91-44-22354717
SUMMARY:
The current practices of e-waste management in India suffer from a number of
drawbacks like the difficulty in inventorisation, unhealthy conditions of informal recycling,
inadequate legislation, poor awareness and reluctance on part of the corporate to address the
critical issues. The consequences are that (i) toxic materials enter the waste stream with no
special precautions to avoid the known adverse effects on the environment and human health and
(ii) resources are wasted when economically valuable materials are dumped or unhealthy
conditions are developed during the informal recycling. The paper highlights the associated
issues and strategies to address this emerging problem, in the light of initiatives in India. The
paper presents a waste management system with shared responsibility for the collection and
recycling of electronic wastes amongst the manufacturers / assemblers, importers, recyclers,
regulatory bodies and the consumers.
1.INTRODUCTION
The electronic industry is the world’s largest and fastest growing manufacturing industry (Radha,
2002; DIT, 2003). During the last decade, it has assumed the role of providing a forceful
leverage to the socio - economic and technological growth of a developing society. The
consequence of its consumer oriented growth combined with rapid product obsolescence and
technological advances are a new environmental challenge - the growing menace of “Electronics
Waste” or “e waste” that consists of obsolete electronic devices. It is an emerging problem as
well as a business opportunity of increasing significance, given the volumes of e-waste being
generated and the content of both toxic and valuable materials in them. The fraction including
iron, copper, aluminium, gold and other metals in e-waste is over 60%, while plastics account for
about 30% and the hazardous pollutants comprise only about 2.70% (Widmer et al., 2005).
Solid waste management, which is already a mammoth task in India, is becoming more
complicated by the invasion of e-waste, particularly computer waste. E-waste from developed
countries find an easy way into developing countries in the name of free trade (Toxics Link,
2004) is further complicating the problems associated with waste management. The paper
highlights the associated issues and strategies to address this emerging problem, in the light of
initiatives in India.
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