In its recent Children and Digital Dumpsites report, the World Health Organization highlighted the risk that children working in informal processing face due to discarded electronic devices or e-waste.
Every year, up to 18 million children (aged five and over) and about 12.9 million women work in these e-waste dumps.
E-waste from high-income countries is deposited every year for processing in middle- or low-income countries.
E-Waste is short for Electronic Waste. It mainly includes electronic equipment, completely or partially discarded as waste by the consumer or mass consumer, as well as waste from production. It contains over 1000 precious metals and other substances such as gold, copper, lead, mercury, cadmium, chromium, polybrominated biphenyls and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.
According to the Global E-waste Statistic Partnership, the volume of e-waste generated worldwide is growing rapidly. About 53.6 million tons of e-waste was generated in 2019. However, only 17.4% of this e-waste was processed in informal recycling facilities. The rest were dumped into low- or middle-income countries for illegal processing by infcasualrkers. The reason is the increase in the number of smartphones and computers.
According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), India generated more than 10 million tonnes of e-waste in 2019-20, up from 7 million tonnes in 2017-18. In contrast, the e-waste disposal capacity has not increased from 7.82 lakh tonnes since 2017-18. In 2018, the environment ministry told the court that the informal sector recycles 95% of e-waste in India and scrap dealers unscientifically dispose of it by burning or dissolving it in acids.
Children working in digital dumps are more susceptible to lung dysfunction, deoxyribonucleic acid damage, and an increased risk of chronic diseases such as cancer and cardiovascular disease. Several women also work there, including expectant mothers. Processing e-waste exposes them and their children to these toxins, which can lead to premature births and stillbirths. The dangerous impact of working in such places is also felt by the families and communities who live near these e-waste dumps.
The government introduced the e-waste management rules (2016) which enforce extended producer responsibility (EPR). According to the EPR principle, manufacturers should be forced to reach "end of life". State governments have been entrusted with the responsibility of maintaining industrial premises for e-waste dismantling and recycling facilities. They are also expected to implement measures to protect the health and safety of workers involved in e-waste dismantling and recycling facilities. India's first e-waste clinic for sorting, processing and disposal of waste from households and commercial units has been set up in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh.
Most of the e-waste is recycled in India in unorganized units, which employ significant manpower. Extracting metals from printed circuit boards (PCBs) by primitive means is a most dangerous act.
Proper education, awareness and most importantly, alternative cost-effective technologies need to be provided to provide better means to those who earn a living.
A holistic approach is needed to address the challenges India faces in e-waste management. One method could be for units in the unorganized sector to focus on collection, dismantling, segregation, while organized industry could do metal mining, recycling and disposal.
Nic work
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