Challenges of E-waste management
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| Challenges of E-waste management |
In this era of technology, E-waste is increasing day by day. E -waste is now a cause for concern. Today, the use of electronic items constantly and the change in the new model of electronic items attracts people to use more and more electronic items and discard old items. For this reason, the situation has become such that today the garbage house is becoming a place. The challenge is how to recycling e-waste? Due to the non-disposal of those items whose life is over, it is emerging as a big problem.
E-waste means electronic waste which contains electronic items as waste. They also include things whose life is over. Parts such as TV, fridge, cooler, AC, monitor, computer, calculator, mobile, electronic machines are also included. E-waste is not actually directly harmful, but its substances are dangerous. In electronic waste, some valuable items like tava, silver, gold, platinum etc. are required to be processed by a person to get them. If they are not destroyed, they definitely prove to have adverse effects for the environment. This also creates environmental hazards. There is no doubt that electronic devices are environmentally friendly. But when they are in the form of e-waste, they cause great harm to the environment.
Some electronic and electric appliances contain heavy objects such as glass, zinc, cadmium, varium etc. If all these enter water then it can be very harmful for health. It also affects the human nervous system and respiratory system.
India is the world's largest mobile consumer country. More than 1.5 million tonnes of e-waste are produced here in a year. But no consumer knows how to properly handle or manage it. This is a matter of concern. Its recycling work has been left entirely to formal areas. Yet the method of its disposal has not yet been resolved.
In the year 2011, some rules were enacted for e-waste management. In it, the standards of such products were prepared by meeting the pollution control boards of the states on the products to manage the end of life of their products which is environmentally friendly. The E-waste Management Rules 2016 was then enacted which was implemented in 2017. This ensured the eventual return of waste. Also, an arrangement was made in the name of 'Product Responsibility Organization'. Apart from this, the Central Pollution Control Board will inspect what devices are available in the market which are not possible for disposal and which are hazardous to human environment. All those items will be identified and returned from the market.
The global volume of E-waste was 47.4 million tonnes in 2016. It is expected to reach 552 million tonnes by 2021. About 2 million tonnes of e-waste is produced annually in India. India also ranks among the top five countries in the world for producing the most electronic waste (e-waste). Apart from this, China, America, Japan and Germany are in this list. It was reported in a report that about 2 million tonnes of e-waste is produced annually in India and a total of 4,38,085 tonnes of waste is recycled annually. E-waste usually includes computer monitors, motherboards, cathode ray tubes (CRTs), printed circuit boards (PCBs), mobile phones and chargers, compact discs, LCD with headphones (liquid crystal display) or plasma TV, air Conditioner, refrigerator included.
The sad part is that only 5 percent of India's total e-waste is known to be recycled due to poor infrastructure and legislation. It directly impacts irreversible damage to the environment and the health of the people working in the industry. The unorganized sector and 95 per cent of e-waste is managed by scrap dealers in this market, who throw away the products instead of recycling it. The report also said that as the people of India are getting richer, more and more electronic goods and equipment are being spent. Computer equipment accounts for about 70 per cent of the total e-waste content, 12 per cent of telecom equipment, 8 per cent of electrical equipment, 7 per cent for medical equipment and 4 per cent for the rest of the household.
Currently, e-waste generation capacity in India is 4.56 times more than the processing capacity. Increasing population is also the reason for increasing e-waste. E-waste in India is growing at a fatal rate. This is harming the environment of the country. It can have fatal consequences in future. The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) has warned that if developing countries like India and China do not recycle e-waste properly, its mountain will rise. Today, one lakh tons of refrigerator waste, 2,75000 tons of TV waste, 56300 tons of computer waste, 4700 print of waste and 1700 tons of mobile phone waste are generated every year in India. No exact waste recycling system has been implemented in India.