In its recent reports Children and Digital Dumpsites, the World Health Organization has underlined the risk children working in informal processing face due to discarded electronic devices or e-waste.
- As many as 18 million children (as young as five years ) and about 12.9 million women work at these e-waste dumpsites every year.
- The e-waste from high-income countries is dumped in the middle or low-income countries for processing every year.
E-Waste is short for Electronic Waste. It majorly includes electronic equipment, entirely or in part discarded as waste by the consumer or bulk consumer, as well as rejects from manufacturing. It contains over 1000 precious metals and other substances like 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 is surging rapidly across the globe. About 53.6 million tonnes of e-waste were developed in 2019. However, only 17.4% of this e-waste was processed informal recycling facilities. The rest was dumped in low or middle-income countries for illegal processing by infcasualrkers. This is because of the rise in the number of smartphones and computers.
According to Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), India generated more than 10 lakh tonnes of e-waste in 2019–20, increasing from 7 lakh tonnes in 2017–18. Against this, the e-waste dismantling capacity has not been raised from 7.82 lakh tonnes since 2017–18. In 2018, the Ministry of Environment had told the tribunal 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.
The children working at digital dumpsites are more prone to improper lung function, deoxyribonucleic acid damage, and increased risk of chronic diseases like cancer and cardiovascular disease. Several women, including expectant mothers, also work there. Processing e-waste exposes them and their children to these toxins, leading to premature births and stillbirth. The hazardous impact of working at such sites is also experienced by families and communities that reside in the vicinity of these e-waste dumpsites.
The government has implemented the e-waste (management) Rules (2016) which enforce the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR). Under the EPR principle, the producers should have been made reached their 'end of life. State governments have been entrusted with the responsibility of maintaining industrial space for e-waste dismantling and recycling facilities. They are also expected to establish measures for protecting the health and safety of workers engaged in the dismantling and recycling facilities for e-waste. India's first e-waste clinic for segregating, processing, and disposal of waste from household and commercial units has been set up in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. The e-waste is recycled in India in unorganized units, engaging a significant workforce. Recovery of metals from Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs) by primitive means is a most dangerous act.
Most Proper education, awareness, and most importantly, alternative cost-effective technology need to be provided to provide better means to those who earn their livelihood.
A holistic approach is needed to address the challenges faced by India in e-waste management. One method could be for units in the unorganized sector to concentrate on the collection, dismantling, segregation, whereas the industry organized could do metal extraction, recycling, and disposal.
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