In its most recent report, Children and Digital Dumpsites, the World Health Organization (WHO) has highlighted the dangers that children working in random processing face as a result of discarded electronic devices or e-waste.
Up to 18 million children (five years old) and 12.9 million women work at these e-waste dumps annually.
E-waste from high-income countries is disposed of in medium- or low-income countries for annual processing.
E-Waste is short with Electronic Waste. It mainly includes electronic equipment, discarded in whole or in part as waste by the consumer or consumer in bulk, as well as rejection from production. It contains more than 1000 precious metals and other metals such as gold, copper, lead, mercury, cadmium, chromium, polybrominated biphenyls, and polycyclic aromatics hydrocarbon.
According to the Global E-waste Statistic Partnership, the amount of e-waste produced is growing rapidly around the world. Approximately 53.6 million tons of e-waste was developed by 2019. However, only 17.4% of this waste was recycled into informal recycling facilities. Some are discarded in low- and middle-income countries to be illegally processed by infcasualrkers. This is due to the increase in the number of smartphones and computers.
According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), India has produced more than 10 lakh tons of e-waste by 2019-2020, rising from 7 lakh tons in 2017-18. Against this backdrop, e-waste demolition capacity has not been increased from 7.82 lakh tons from 2017-18. In 2018, the Department of Environment told the court that the informal industry also uses 95% of e-waste in India, and scrap retailers discard it scientifically by burning or dissolving it in acids.
Children working in digital dumping sites are more likely to develop lung dysfunction, deoxyribonucleic acid damage, and an increased risk of chronic diseases such as cancer and heart disease. Several women, including expectant mothers, also work there. E-waste analysis exposes them and their children to these toxins, which can lead to premature birth and childbirth. The dangerous impact of working in those areas is seen by families and communities living near these dumps of electronic waste.
The government has implemented the e-waste (management) Regulations (2016) which enforce the Extended Product Liability (EPR). Under the EPR policy, producers should have been made to reach the 'end of their lives'. Regional governments have been entrusted with the responsibility of caring for the e-waste industrial area and recycling facilities. They are also expected to develop measures to protect the health and safety of workers who undertake demolition and recycling of e-waste. India's first e-waste clinic for the classification, processing, and disposal of household and commercial waste has been established in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh.
Most of the e-waste is recycled in India by informal units, which include key personnel. Acquisition of materials on Printed Regional Boards (PCBs) by traditional methods is a very dangerous practice.
Proper education, awareness, and most importantly, some of the most expensive technologies should be provided to provide better alternatives for those who make a living.
A comprehensive approach is needed to address the challenges India is facing in managing e-waste. Another option would be for units in the informal sector to focus on collection, disintegration, segregation, while the organized industry could make metal, recycle, and dispose of.
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