UNDERSTAND YOUR E -WASTE. THE REGULAR TRASHCAN IS NOT THE RIGHT PLACE.

"AS THE PACE OF TECHNOLOGY INCREASES, THE AMOUNT OF TOXIC ELECTRONIC WASTE IS PILING UP AT HOME AND ABROAD".

-       GENE GREEN

In modern times, every household owns a computer, i-pad, television, cell phones, electronic item, etc. As a popular and informal term, electronic waste (e-Waste) is loosely refers to any white goods, consumer and business electronics, and information technology hardware that is in the end of its useful life (S. Bhutta, et.al., 2011). Today, three out of four Indians possess mobile phones, in short ‘screens’ of myriad sizes, which are in front of our eyes all the time.. One out of every five people has access to computers. The unavoidable consequence is that the nation of more than a billion individuals is generating tons of dangerous ‘electronic waste’ and yet our lives doesn't revolve without these electronics accompanying us.

Eventually, the electronic reach the end of their life, and we’ll have to decommission them and it’s time to purchase new ones. But, what happens with the old electronics? Just throwing out a computer isn’t enough – you have to ensure that all data has been removed from it before you get rid of it. There are serious security implications to consider.

Electronic waste or e-waste is one of the rapidly growing environmental problems of the world.  In India, the electronic waste management assumes greater significance not only due to the generation of our own waste but also dumping of e-waste particularly computer waste from the developed countries. With extensively using computers and electronic equipment’s and people dumping old electronic goods for new ones, the amount of E-Waste generated has been steadily increasing.

Unfortunately, electronic waste can’t just be taken to the dump for 2 reasons:

• It’s not environmentally friendly: old hardware contains components which are extremely harmful to the environment
• It puts your corporate security at risk: those old devices contain sensitive data which leave you vulnerable to hacks

Valuable metals such as copper, silver, gold, and platinum could be recovered from e-wastes, if they are scientifically processed. E-waste poses a huge risk to humans, animals, and the environment. The presence of heavy metals and highly toxic substances such as mercury, lead, beryllium, and cadmium pose a significant threat to the environment even in minute quantities.

Here’s a quick guide on how to get rid of e-waste properly without adversely affecting the environment:

CONSTITUENT	SOURCE OF E-WASTES	HEALTH EFFECTS
Lead (PB)	Printed circuit boards, glass panels and gaskets in computer monitors	Damage to central and peripheral nervous systems, blood systems and kidney damage. Affects brain development of children.
Cadmium (CD)	Chip resistors and semiconductors	Toxic irreversible effects on human health.  Accumulates in kidney and liver. Causes neural damage. Teratogenic.
Mercury (Hg)	Relays and switches, printed circuit boards	Chronic damage to the brain. Respiratory and skin disorders. bioaccumulation of mercury in waterbodies results in biomagnification which ultimately endangers the life in water. eg: fish, insects, frogs
Hexavalent chromium (Cr) VI	Corrosion protection of untreated and galvanized steel plates, decorator or harder for steel housings	Asthmatic bronchitis.  DNA damage.
Plastics including PVC	Cabling and computer housing	Burning produces dioxin. It causes reproductive and developmental problems. Immune system damage. Interfere with regulatory hormones
Brominated flame retardants (BFR)	Plastic housing of electronic equipment and circuit boards.	Disrupts endocrine system functions
Barium (Ba)	Front panel of CRTs	Short term exposure causes:  Muscle weakness Damage to heart, liver and spleen.

1. Never Dump E-waste Into The Dustbin: The crucial step to e-waste management is that old electronic item such as tube lights, mobile phones, computers, keyboards, headphones, batteries to name a few should never be dumped into the dustbin with rest of your garbage.

Electronic products are made up of heavy metals if one dumps the e-waste into the dustbin it later can make its way into the landfills. There it may leach out toxins into the soil and pollute groundwater.

2. Sort Your E-waste: E-waste should be sorted at home. Based on its size and toxicity, one can classify the electrical waste , such as (Babu and Parande, 2007)

3. Dispose of E-waste Responsibly: Now there are several easy ways to dispose of e-waste. The most common and easy way these days is to go for an exchange – in this you exchange or return your old gadgets when you get a new one. Many brands, manufacturers and online marketplaces accept old electronics. Also,

• Give Your Electronic Waste to a Certified E-Waste Recycler:

  Precautions to Take Before Donating or Recycling Your Electronics

      .    .    .   Ø Upgrade your computer instead of simply replacing it

 .    .    .   Ø Format all your personal information from your products before discarding

 .    .    .   Ø Take out the batteries from your gadgets before getting rid of them

• Sell Off or donate your Outdated Technology

• Give Back the electronics to the Electronic Companies and Drop Off Points while buying new ones.

                            

E-WASTE MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES:

Don’t throw the waste cell phones, dumped systems into the landfills. Properly, deliver them to the organizations where recycling is carried out.

Get the electronic goods from the vendors who can take back for recycling.

Take care of the lifetime of your hardware equipment and so that e waste can be efficiently decreased

Big Industries may buy recyclers that can be used for long time.

Citizens should turn their interests to use the recycled products

Support green engineering.

------------------------------------------------------

LIST OF E -WASTE RECYCLING ORGANIZATIONS IN INDIA 

S.NO	NAME OF THE UNIT	LOCATION
1.	SAAHAS	Bangalore, Karnataka
2.	ZERO WASTE	Jaipur, Rajasthan
3.	UNITED GLOBAL TRUS	Assam
4.	HULLDEK	Kolkata
5.	KARO SAMBHAV	Chennai, Tamil Nadu
6.	NAMO EWASTE	Faridabad, Haryana
7.	ADATTE E-WASTE MANAGEMENT PRIVATE LIMITED	New Delhi, Delhi
8.	HINDUSTAN E-WASTE MANAGEMENT PVT. LT	New Delhi, Delhi
9.	JADG INDIA E-WASTE RECYCLERS PVT. LTD	Tiruvallur, Tamil Nadu
10.	E- PARISARAA PRIVATE LIMITED	Bengaluru, Karnataka

 

DETAILS FOR CERTAIN E - WASTE RECYCLING UNITS IN MADURAI IS 

AVAILABLE BELOW :

• Madurai Kuppai 

Contact Details: 

📍     -  69A T.P.K Main Road,Palanganatham, Madurai 625003 Tamilnadu 

📞  - 

(0)93617 70777,(0)87546 17777

🔗   - http://www.maduraikuppai.com/

• A to Z scrap:

📍    -  No 1/47 Nondi Samy Kovil Street, 

          Andarkottaram Post, Madurai - 625020.

📞 - +91 9944153174

🔗  - http://atozscrap.com/best-scrap-shop-in-madurai/

BIBLIOGRAPHY: 

• Rakesh Johri, E-waste Implications, Regulations, and Management in India and Current Global Best Practices, Energy and Resources Institute publications, 2008. Page: 27 - 40
• Meththika Vithanage, Handbook of Electronic Waste Management International Best Practices and Case Studies, Elsevier Science publications, 2019. Page: 101 - 110
• https://www.step-initiative.org/e-waste-challenge.html#:~:text=The%20definition%20of%20e%2Dwaste,intention%20of%20re%2Duse.%22
• https://www.iberdrola.com/environment/what-is-e-waste