In 2007, India generated 380 k tonnes of e-waste. Only 3 percent of this made
it to the authorized recyclers' facilities. Ten million mobile phones, 7.5 mn
desktops and notebooks, and millions of related peripherals were sold in India
in 2009. What is the level of electronic waste it is going to create, and how
will that e-waste be handled is a matter of big concern. India's e-waste
generation is growing at the rate of 15 percent and is expected to cross the 800
k tonne mark by 2012. And because these numbers will only grow exponentially in
the years to come, the challenge could be of even bigger proportions.
Poor and developing countries have traditionally been the dumping yard of
hazardous wastes from developed nations. According to some estimates, around 50
k tonnes of e-waste comes to India annually under the garb of reusable items.
These are then dismantled manually in unauthorized dumping yards, posing grave
health and environment risks.
At a time when protecting ecology and environment is becoming a big subject,
and the Prime Minister of India is talking about it in various forums, it is
critical that opinion makers and the industry captains also wake up.
The action plan will clearly have to be multi-pronged. For instance, setting
up integrated or end-to-end e-waste recycling plants have to be encouraged by
the government, with strong incentives. Preferably, there should be a short,
time-bound, single window clearances for such units. It would be great if better
co-ordination systems and common objectives can be worked out with agencies like
the Central Pollution Control Board, and the Ministry of Environment & Forests.
Safety and health precautions for the employees of such plants is also critical.
There are important considerations that e-waste solution providers will have
to build into their business model. Data security is perhaps the biggest
concern. Worn out products sent for e-waste recycling, whether a computer or a
cellphone, are likely to contain financial information, client data, employee
records, software, and other invaluable information. For the comfort of such
sensitive users, e-waste recycling companies today offer facilities such as
video recording of the data destruction which can be viewed by the customers
online. Also, ensuring that the transportation of the e-waste to the plant is
done in closed and secure containers.
Obviously there has to be a mechanism to collect all the junk and deliver it
to the recycling plants. Pan India collection centers will be needed, and IT and
telecom vendors can play a big role in supporting this. Helping any e-waste
management initiative should now be a part of the corporate social
responsibility. Adequate media campaign will be required to let enterprise users
and consumers in metros as well as semi-urban areas know about this. Media
houses should support this as part of their CSR charter.
Ibrahim ahmad
ibrahima@cybermedia.co.in