Electronic Waste Recycling

Context:

According to a report and survey by the Indian Cellular and Electronic Association (ICEA) along with Accenture, around 206 million devices (smart phones and laptops) are lying idle with consumer households.

More on News:

• Pathways to a Circular Economy in the Indian Electronics Sector Report:
  • Hoarding: 40% respondents were hoarding four or more devices which have remained unused for years.
  • Lack of Awareness: Two of five consumers did not give their devices for recycling.
  • In 2021, about 75 million devices were added as idle inventory.
• Collection and Recycling: 90 percent of the collection of end-of-cycle phones and 70 percent of the recycling is still done by the informal sector.

About e-Waste:

• E-waste: It is the discarded electronic equipment that is unfit for further use because of malfunctioning, lack of repair or spare parts, or is too outdated to be sold commercially efficiently.
• Toxic Emission: The e-waste emits toxic substances such as mercury, lead, cadmium, polychlorinated biphenyls, benzene, and dioxins.
• Legislations: Since 2011, laws are in place for regulating collection and recycling of e-waste. The E-Waste (Management) Rules, 2016 and E-Waste (Management) Rules, 2022 were also introduced to formalise e-waste management.
• E-Waste Clinic: For segregation, processing and disposal of e-waste from household and commercial units, the first e-waste clinic was set-up in Bhopal.
• Nairobi Declaration 2006: To control the trans-boundary movement of hazardous waste, Nairobi Declaration was adopted at COP 9 of the Basel Convention.

Challenges Related to E-Waste Management:

• Health Risk: According to WHO, mounting tsunami of e-waste is putting lives and health at risk.

• • For instance, around 12.9 million women are working in the informal waste sector which exposes them to risk to effects like negative birth outcomes, neurological disorders, DNA damage etc.
• Illegal Dumping of e-Waste in India: Government had banned import of e-waste in the country by listing e-waste in the Schedule VI of the Hazardous and Other Wastes (Management and Transboundary Movement) Rules, 2016.
  • According to the Ministry of Finance, there were a total 29 cases of illegal import of e-waste between 2019-2021.
• Environmental Pollution: If improperly disposed of or recycled, the hazardous materials from e-waste can leach into soil and water, contaminating ecosystems and posing serious health risks to humans and wildlife.
  • Researchers studied soil and groundwater in Delhi’s Krishna Vihar industrial area which houses unorganised e-waste handling and dumping units and discovered an alarming amount of toxic heavy metals leaching into them.
• Electronic Devices Proliferation: The rapid advancement of technology leads to the frequent replacement of electronic devices, which contributes to the growing volume of e-waste.

• • Consumers often discard functional but outdated devices in favor of newer models, exacerbating the e-waste problem.
• Consumer Behaviour: Lack of e-waste disposal and recycling due to a lack of good economic incentivisation, high personal attachment to devices, and the lack of awareness. 

 Way Forward:

• Circular Economy: It is an alternative to the “take, make, and dispose” linear model, replacing it with the concept of restoration and regeneration.
  • ICEA-Accenture says circular electronics will have a market size of $13 billion by 2035, and $20 billion as if it meets its total economic potential.
• Right to Repair: Enable consumers to independently repair and modify their own consumer goods where the manufacturers require the consumer to use only their offered services.
  • For example, Apple Inc has prevented companies from repairing or refurbishing its products without their permission.
•  LiFE (Lifestyle for Environment) Approach:
  • Repair and use electronic devices over discarding the devices.
  • Discard gadgets in nearest e-recycling units.
  • Use rechargeable lithium cells.
  • Prefer cloud storage over a hard drive.
• Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR): EPR has been adopted in the E-Waste (Management) Rules, 2016, which stipulate phase wise collection target to producers.
  • Under EPR regime, producers of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) have given annual e-waste collection and recycling targets based on the generation from the previously sold EEE.
• Donate e-Waste: Giving away electronic equipment which are no longer in use to those in need can have multi-fold advantages.
  • Donour: Will get rid of waste and additionally may claim tax deductions for donations made.
  • Receiver– Will get electronic products for free of cost.

Conclusion

Countries can work towards more effective and sustainable e-waste management, reducing the negative environmental and health impacts while maximizing the economic benefits of recycling and resource recovery.

News Source: Business Standard