AWARENESS OF RECYCLERS ABOUT E-WASTE- A SURVEY CONDUCTED IN NORTHERN STATES OF INDIA

Abstract

At initial stage of electronic products development it was assumed that electronic industry is very neat and clean industry as it does not produce any harmful residuals upon disposal. But this assumption proved wrong as electronic products contain lead, mercury, chromium, beryllium and other harmful materials which cause kidney failure, cancer and serious damage to lungs etc. That’s why it becomes very necessary to think for the management of e-waste. These days most of the electronic waste is managed by informal channel in India. Formal collection channel is totally absent in India. Scrap dealer collect the electronic waste from the house, organizations etc. Scrap dealers itself manage the e-waste or sold it to someone else. As it contains hazardous materials, attention must be paid for proper disposal of electronic waste. Because India has second highest population in the world, sales of electronics items like mobile phones, PC/laptops and other electronic items is quite higher as compared the other countries.  Other side of this factor is that sale of electronic products is directly proportional to the generation of e-waste as after end of life (EOL) and technological advancement of the e-product, the old product was discarded. E-waste is the term used for all the electronic products which are discarded or not fit for use. Unauthorised recycling of e-waste become more dangerous as it harms the environment and health of the individual too. Components in working condition also segregated from e-waste, which also support the e-waste management programme. Another problem is that, India is one of largest importer of the e-waste. Various developed countries dump their e-waste in India. The main reasons behind this dumping are lack of proper implementation of rules and regulations of e-waste management, availability of labour at cheaper price, unemployment etc. In this paper a survey was conducted to find out the awareness of the recyclers about e-waste. Northern Indian states were selected for the survey.