In the race of technological advancements in the country it is not surprising for computers and other electronic equipments to become obsolete within few years. The e-Waste has been mounting rapidly with the rise of the information society. It is the fastest growing segment of the municipal solid waste stream because of increased affordability of new products and technological achievements which make it easy to purchase of new electronics rather than repairing or upgrading old products. The growth of end of life electronic products depends on economic growth of the country, population growth, market penetration, technology upgradation and obsolescence rate.  

The waste from electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) – also known as e-Waste typically consists of electronic products coming to the end of their useful life such as computers, televisions, mobile phones, VCRs, CD players, DVD players, refrigerators, air conditioners, microwave ovens, tube lights and other consumer electric and electronic components. The huge range and complexity of component materials in the electronic products makes it difficult and expensive to dispose of or recycle them safely with profit making business. Some of the materials used in electronic devices are of high value and highly recyclable - such as gold and platinum while many others are non-renewable - such as plastics which are currently either 

discarded or recycled to form lower grade material. The biggest concern with e-Waste is the presence of toxic materials such as lead, cadmium, beryllium, mercury and arsenic, toxic flameretardants, PVC containing plastics, printer cartridge inks and toners that pose significant health and environmental risks when WEEE is disposed of.  The e-Waste is disposed of in one of the four ways landfilling, incineration, recycling or exportation. Each process has an environmental impact as well as affects the health and safety of the worker. Disposal in landfills is a common practice but eventually it results in leaching of toxic metals in soil and subsoil aquifers thus many countries (especially European countries) have undertaken legal measures to check the disposal in municipal landfills. The incineration process release heavy metals and other toxicants contained in electronic subassemblies and components as air emissions. Recycling process is considered the best way for disposing of electronic components only if the process employs environmentally sound recycling. It is considered that the developed nations usually have technological resources and infrastructure for environmentally sound recycling whereas developing nations lack the regulations as well infrastructure for proper recycling.  The  obsolete electronics are exported to developing countries like India, China, Pakistan and Africa due to cost benefits. This exportation is creating ecological footprints in developing and underdeveloped countries of the technological advancements in industrialized nations. It is  cheap to export the obsolete electronics in developing nations rather than recycling these products in developed nations (1).  The imported obsolete electronics in developing nations creates e-Waste trade chain employing several informal workers, collectors, segregators, middlemen, scrap dealers and recyclers who manage to take components apart, reuse the functional components and recycle the non-functional components by burning, acid dipping and other unprofessional techniques. The spent acids and other chemicals, solid wastes after burning and other wastes are disposed of in open drains which eventually end up in rivers.  

Objectives 

The world economy is undergoing fundamental changes driven by globalization of businesses and growth of ICT sector worldwide. Under globalization the developing economies are struggling to develop and match their pace with industrialized nations. The income patterns will affect the technological achievements in the country. The objective of this paper is to present the e-Waste situation in the developing economies, best practices and activities undertaken by these regions to tackle the growing e-Waste stream. The paper focuses mainly on the major issues regarding e-Waste management like trends and inventorization, practices adopted for collection, reuse, reduction and recycling, policies and legal framework and measures adopted for minimization of electronic wastes by creating awareness among consumers, collection mechanisms and waste to art techniques, extending life by reuse and policy formulation. The paper specifically targets the low and middle income economies as they are competing with developed nations in technological development. The low employment status, lack of awareness and lack of regulatory policies is increasing the unsafe e-Waste management practices in developing countries.