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The E-waste Management Challenge

by Janet C. Geddes

Last week, a multi-stakeholder workshop was held in Mumbai to discuss the growing problem of electronic waste management (e-waste) in the country. E-waste refers to our everyday electronic goods, our personal computers TVs, DVDs, fridges, mobile phones, etc that are no longer usable.

You need only open any device to realise how many different parts and substances go into it. What we may not realise is how toxic some of these compounds are: lead, mercury, arsenic, cadmium, chromium, Poly Vinyl Chloride, Brominated Flame Retardants, commonly feature in our phones, TVs, computers, fridges. They need proper disposal management to avoid serious environmental and human health problems.

Yes, they also contain a number of valuable substances gold, copper, aluminium, steel and even glass to name a few and in the recyclers paradise of India, people will go to any lengths to recover these precious materials for re-sale, regardless of the goods toxicity.

India: an e-waste haven

India tops the list of countries receiving e-waste imports from abroad in shiploads. Imported scrap computers constitute the bulk of e-waste that India deals with from USA, Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Sweden, Canada, Australia, and UAE – given the large cost difference of recycling a PC in India (Rs. 100 compared to Rs. 1000 in USA). Unfortunately, as Joint Commissioner Customs (at JNPT), Mr Rajiv Yadav, says “There is no clarity in laws handling waste which comes into our ports in the guise of charity goods or study material”.

Most of the e-waste reaches our ports where importers use loopholes in existing legislation, labelling the scrap as used working computers. And current law states that second-hand computers up to 10 years of age are allowed for import.

Similarly there are no specific laws or guidelines on e-waste and classification of e-waste as hazardous material is unclear, depending on the extent of hazardous constituents in it.

However our e-waste problems do not start and finish with imports. Managing the domestic generation of e-waste alone will soon prove to be a significant challenge.

Projections by the NGO Toxics Link show just how rapidly our desire for electronic goods is growing. The number of PC users in the country will rise from 15 million to 75 million by 2010, and already there are 2 million obsolete PCs ready for disposal. Mobile phone projections are even more staggering phone owners will swell from 75 million to 200 million by the end of 2007.

Recycling e-waste

Backyard recycling units – although informal – are highly organised and are growing at a considerable rate. These units either dismantle the goods to make them ready for recovery or recover specific materials. For example, for a PC, scrap dealers separate the Central Processing Unit (CPU) and other functionable valuable parts (which they may sell to middle-men for re-sale into refurbished computers), and dismantle the monitor, casings, motherboard, keyboard and floppy drive, to be sent on to recyclers dealing with recovery of specific materials.

Recovery is typically by manual means using rudimentary technology, often by women and children, and generally in hazardous circumstances. Little safety equipment is used, most work happening with bare hands and without masks. PVC wires and circuit boards are burnt in the open to recover the copper wires; acid baths, often in the form of huge kadais of acid, are used to recover the minute quantities of gold from circuit boards; metals and their alloys recovered from hard disks, floppy drives and power supply units are melted down; other metals are separated using screwdrivers, hammers and pliers.

Workers are not only in danger of burns or other injuries often working in small units without proper ventilation, but Toxics Links research correlates e-waste recycling work with other serious health effects, ranging from asthma to cancer, as well as genetic and endocrine disruption. Whatever is left after the recyclers have taken their pickings, is then dumped back into the municipal waste stream, toxic materials and all.

The lack of regulation of the industry, and of labour laws and safety regulations in general means these backyard businesses continue unabated, with most workers unaware of the effects their livelihood has on their health.

Locations of e-waste recycling

In backyards in Sakinaka, Kurla, Dharavi and Bhiwandi in Mumbai, recycling is mainly for metal extraction and computer dismantling the parts then being sent to Delhi for recovery.

In Bangalore, where 30% of electrical equipment of the citys software and hardware companies becomes obsolete each year, a clean recycling facility has been set up. Called E-Parisara Pvt. Ltd, it has the capacity to recycle up to 3 tonnes of e-waste a day, in a manner that minimises both human health effects and environmental pollution. Many of the citys IT companies such as IBM, Tata Elxsi and Philips are among its clients.

Issues around e-waste

The sheer size of the current and projected global e-waste burden had led the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to declare it one of the most serious issues they are dealing with today. It is the fastest growing component of the municipal solid waste stream worldwide. And given Mumbais position as the commerce capital of India, its relative wealth and burgeoning population, the city is one of the largest consumers of electronic goods in the country and will soon be one of the biggest producers of e-waste. With this in mind, the need for citizen action on the issue becomes evident.

The lack of clear definition of e-waste as a hazardous waste, the lack of supportive legislation under the Customs Act, the poorly enforced labour laws and environmental legislation coupled with a strong history and business practice in recycling scrap makes it a critical issue for the country. Legislative and policy solutions to must be now sought on e-waste management that are applicable within the Indian context.

At the same time, the lack of public incentive and pressure for goods manufacturers to design their products for longevity, to design them with less hazardous materials and ultimately to be made responsible for their products in a cradle-to-grave approach known as Extended Producer Responsibility means that manufacturing of these types of goods remains unabated.

What you can do as a citizen

There are a number of actions that you as a citizen can take to support efforts on e-waste management.

· Demand increased consumer awareness: Demand that manufacturers make consumers aware of the hazardous materials their goods contain, the potential threat to public health and environment posed during disposal of electronic items and proper waste management protocols.

· Demand extended producer responsibility (EPR): Support efforts by NGOs such as Toxics Link to encourage extended producer responsibility, that will make producers responsible for their products over their entire life-cycle e.g. product buy-back.

· Buy greener electronics: Greenpeace UK have produced a Green Electronics Guide, that ranks leading mobile phone and PC manufacturers on their global policies and practices.

· Demand better design for recycling: Electronic goods can be designed to include parts that are easier to recycle, requiring less of the hazardous practices needed to extract the precious materials from them.

· Demand for longevity in design of goods: Can goods be designed so they dont need to be replaced every 2-3 years? Can we demand manufacturers to design in this way?

· Take responsibility: In India we have a strong tradition of recycling goods, and repairing them for longer use lets not forget that. Ask yourself whether you really need that phone or PC upgrade and if so, what you will do with the old one.

For more information on the e-waste situation in India, please see www.toxicslink.org and www.e-waste.in , www.karmayog.org

Janet C. Geddes is an environment and development consultant, working on a range of rural and urban issues in India, based in Mumbai.

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