A local newspaper has invited student submissions to an article writing competition on
the topic 'E-waste management'. The best three articles will be published in the
newspaper. Write your entry in about 150 words,
Some of the points in your article could be as follows:
E-waste is the popular name for electronic products that are not useful anymore
Discarded computers, televisions, stereos, fax machines, electric lamps, cell phones,
batteries, etc. need to be properly disposed
Otherwise can leach lead and other substances into soil and groundwater
Government regulations make manufacturers of electronic products responsible for
management of e-waste
► Set up collection centres and ensure that waste is recycled and disposed of in an
environment-friendly manner
But often e-waste disposed of through waste collectors who carry out door-to-door
collection of waste
Many not aware of regulations. Thus, more information has to be spread.
Reuse, refurbish, or recycle such products
Answers
Answer:
In India, the quantity of “e-waste” or electronic waste has now become a major problem. Disposal of e-waste is an emerging global environmental and public health issue, as this waste has become the most rapidly growing segment of the formal municipal waste stream in the world.
(1) E-waste or Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) are loosely discarded, surplus, obsolete, broken, electrical or electronic devices.
(2) In India most of the waste electronic items are stored at households as people do not know how to discard them. This ever-increasing waste is very complex in nature and is also a rich source of metals such as gold, silver, and copper, which can be recovered and brought back into the production cycle. So e-waste trade and recycling alliances provide employment to many groups of people.
(3) in India. Around 25,000 workers including children are involved in crude dismantling units in Delhi alone where 10,000–20,000 tonnes of e-waste is handled every year by bare hands. Improper dismantling and processing of e-waste render it perilous to human health and our ecosystem. Therefore, the need of proper e-waste management has been realized.
(4) It is necessary to review the public health risks and strategies to combat this growing menace.
Burden of E-Waste
In India, solid waste management, with the emergence of e-waste, has become a complicated task. The total waste generated by obsolete or broken down electronic and electrical equipment was estimated to be 1,46,000 tonnes for the year 2005, which is expected to exceed 8,00,000 tonnes by 2012. However, according to the Greenpeace Report, in 2007, India generated 380,000 tonnes of e-waste. Only 3% of this made it to the authorized recyclers’ facilities. One of the reasons for this is that the India has also become a dumping ground for many developed nations. The Basel Action Network (BAN) stated in a report that 50-80% of e-waste collected by the USA is exported to India, China, Pakistan, Taiwan, and a number of African countries. India is one of the fastest growing economies of the world and the domestic demand for consumer durables has been skyrocketing. From 1998 to 2002, there was a 53.1% increase in the sales of domestic household appliances, both large and small all over the world. Another report estimated that in India, business and individual households make approximately 1.38 million personal computers obsolete every year, accelerating the rate of e-waste generation, which is around 10%, annually going to affect environmental health indicators.
Health Impacts
Electronic equipments contain many hazardous metallic contaminants such as lead, cadmium, and beryllium and brominated flame-retardants [Table 1]. The fraction including iron, copper, aluminum, 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%.(10) Of many toxic heavy metals, lead is the most widely used in electronic devices for various purposes, resulting in a variety of health hazards due to environmental contamination.(11) Lead enters biological systems via food, water, air, and soil. Children are particularly vulnerable to lead poisoning – more so than adults because they absorb more lead from their environment(12) and their nervous system and blood get affected. It is found that the e-waste recycling activities had contributed to the elevated blood lead levels in children living in China, which is one of the popular destinations of e-waste.(13) This was due to that fact that the processes and techniques used during the recycling activities were very primitive. Various studies have reported the soaring levels of toxic heavy metals and organic contaminants in samples of dust, soil, river sediment, surface water, and groundwater of Guiyu in China. In the same areas, the residents had a high incidence of skin damage, headaches, vertigo, nausea, chronic gastritis, and gastric and duodenal ulcers.(14) Further it was found that the blood lead levels of children were higher than the mean level in China, and there was no significant difference between boys and girls.