The business of waste

NDMC sets example for e-waste disposal

By floating tenders to auction discarded electronic items for their appropriate recycling and safe disposal, the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) seems to have set an example for the other civic bodies to emulate. Beginning with the sale of its own electronic waste (e-waste) to those competent of appropriately recycling such hazardous material, the NDMC proposes to expand this exercise to the residential and commercial areas falling under its jurisdiction. Mobile vans will visit different areas on designated days for collection of e-waste. Some six companies are said to have already obtained the environment ministry’s approval for scientific recycling of junked mobile phones, television sets, fused bulbs and other electrical and electronic equipment. These household gadgets contain hazardous substances and chemicals, including lead, cadmium, mercury, barium, arsenic and the like. Many of these elements are toxic and some even radioactive and pose great risk to animal and human health and environment. Delhi is the country’s second largest generator of e-waste, next to Mumbai, and produces about 15,000 tonnes of such waste every year. The country’s total annual e-waste in 2008 was estimated by the industry at about 383,000 tonnes. It would, obviously, increase exponentially in years to come, thanks to the growing use of electronic items. What is worse, a good deal of e-waste generated in other countries also lands up in India in the guise of reusable stuff and charity. In countries like the US, where recycling costs are high, companies find it cost-effective to ship e-waste to India. Imported e-waste is believed to constitute about 15 per cent of the country’s total e-waste.

At present, most of the e-waste either keeps accumulating in homes and offices or is sold to the neighbourhood kabaadiwala (junk dealer). This ultimately ends up at landfill sites along with the other garbage after some crude recycling in the informal sector in a most unscientific and, in many cases, even hazardous manner. Such disposal leaves lot of room for generation of environment-unfriendly gases and dangerous radiation, besides leaching down of toxic residues to pollute groundwater. Though India has several laws relating to environment conservation and toxic residues management, most of these are old statutes and do not specifically apply to e-waste, which was unheard of a couple of decades ago. The available guidelines for environmentally sound management of e-waste are not legally binding on industry. Ideally, the manufacturers of electrical and electronic equipment should take back used items for safe disposal. Some companies have sought to do so but without much success. However, in India, this would be a limited option given that a sizeable chunk of locally manufactured electronic equipment is assembled in the informal sector which is often not properly regulated. Scientific e-waste recycling and disposal has not come up in the organised sector to the desired extent because it is not commercially attractive. To be viable and paying, recycling units need large expanses of land as well as large amounts of electronic junk to process, which is difficult without putting in place a well-organised collection system. This is where civic bodies can help. The NDMC example is a good one for all cities to follow.