E waste

We are at the pinnacle of Technological Development and Innovation, but, at the end of this fast-paced road lay a mountain of electronic waste, or "E-waste”. E-waste is hazardous waste that contains significant amounts of heavy metals and chemicals present in electronic products. The rate at which the waste of obsolete electronic products is growing will reach crisis proportions unless consciousness is developed and significant steps are taken in this regard.

A lot of end-of-life electronics are neither disposed of, nor recycled, and sit uselessly in storages and warehouses. This complicates the issue of E-waste management because recyclers cannot gain access to the valuable resources these electronics contain. Many end-of-life electronics items contain valuable elements such as gold, silver, and platinum. Unfortunately, E-waste can also contain potentially harmful substances such as lead, cadmium, and mercury. Regardless of whether its elements are valuable or potentially hazardous, handling and recovery of E-waste can be a costly undertaking. These considerations have led to intense debates about how E-waste can best be managed. There are also concerns about landfill toxins such as mercury, problematic levels of emissions from E-waste incineration, and exposure problems arising from poorly designed E-waste recovery and recycling operations. High labor and environmental control cost requirements are economic disincentives to E-waste recycling domestically. As a result, much E-waste recycling has shifted to overseas operations where labor costs and compliance requirements are lower.

While the state of E-waste is not as widespread in India as compared to some of the other developed nations, there should be a national concern to utilize this opportunity because it is possible to make clean, durable products that can be upgraded, recycled, or disposed of safely and don't end up as hazardous waste in someone's backyard. The Indian economy is very flexible due to its nature of growth in recent times and hence, it would prove to be very supportive to E-waste management due to a number of reasons. Firstly, the labor costs in the country are relatively lower as compared to the developed nations. Secondly, India has a huge infrastructural and intellectual backup required for this, because of the phenomenal growth of the Services and Software Sector. Thirdly, a bulk of the electronic trash is exported from the west illegally to Asia, where workers at scrap yards, often children, are exposed to a cocktail of toxic chemicals and poisons. And, finally, this would lead to the initiative of the conservation and utilization of energy which is the super set of the whole concept of e-waste management.

These are issues that might seem to be projected or exaggerated in the current state of affairs in the country, but definitely cannot be ignored from the conscious consideration when viewed meticulously with a provident perspective.