Sub optimal e-waste management and the lost opportunity

Abstract

Electronic waste or e-waste is the waste generated from discarded and end of life electronic items. In recent timeswith change in lifestyle and improved purchasing capacity of people has accelerated the demand of new and improvedelectronic items, quick technology obsolescence,as a consequence the generation of e-waste has seen a huge rise. Inyear 2016, globally 93.5 tons of e-waste was generated, India, one of the leading producers of e-waste, produced 1.65Milliontones of e-waste. Apart from domestic generation, a huge chunk of global e-waste was also dumped in India. 90% of the e-waste is handled and managed by the unorganized sector. Hence there is a dire need to develop amechanism to handle the enormous flux of e-waste in India.In this paper the e-waste sector has been reviewed. Also adetailed analysis of the material flow in the e-waste sector has been done. Results reveal that if mismanaged, e-wastecan impose huge environmental penalty, however if it is regulated and handled scientifically it can become an assetfor resource recovery whose carbon footprint is 70-80 % lower than its primary production.