Don't sell your old mobiles, computers or television sets to scrap dealers, or throw them in the bin. Sunday MiD DAY finds Maharashtra's only e-waste recycling plant right here in Mumbai. Use it
Don't sell your old mobiles, computers or television sets to scrap dealers, or throw them in the bin. Sunday MiD DAY finds Maharashtra's only e-waste recycling plant right here in Mumbai. Use it
Yesterday, at 8.30 pm, the world pledged its support to Earth Hour by switching off power for one hour. If you think you did your bit for the environment by hitting the off switch too, here's why that's just not good enough.
Experts have simple tips for you -- educate yourself on where you can recycle your e-waste, whether it's an old music system or a dead mobile phone. Use your electronic gadgets for as long as you can, and pass them on to family members or donate them instead of selling them to retailers (most retailers won't offer you much anyway, unless your mobile is a newish, fancy model), scrap dealers, or worse -- discarding them in the bin.
Toxins (lead, mercury, phosphorous) from e-waste pollute your air, water and food when dumped into landfills, burnt in the open, or discarded in water pipes and sewage drains.
Why the raddiwalla is not your friend
BK Soni, Chairman, Eco Recycling Ltd (Ecoreco), the only recycling plant in Maharashtra gives us a harsh reality check. "There are no mandatory e-waste regulation guidelines in India. Ninety nine per cent of e-waste ends up with the unorganised sector -- waste pickers, local raddiwallas and kabadiwallas. They extract precious metals like copper and silver that can be resold to smelters." Extraction is done by burning the gadget in the open or even boiling it in acid. The acid water and leftovers are then dumped in a landfill or discarded in the open. Improper disposal methods are creating a huge health hazard."
Retailers who buy back your second-hand electronics are culprits too. "They repair and reuse working parts. The rest is binned and eventually makes its way into the groundwater and soil," explains Soni.
No firm guidelines
The problem is compounded by the fact that India does not have a clear legislation in place to make it mandatory to recycle and dispose e-waste in an environment-friendly way. Ravi Agarwal, Director, Toxics Link, an environment NGO, paints a grim picture. "In 2009, the Manufacturers Association for Information Technology (MAIT) had estimated that the quantity of e-waste generated in India is 4,00,000 tonnes annually.
In 2007, Mumbai contributed about 19,000 tonnes of e-waste. In the absence of legislation, about 97 per cent ends up in landfills at places like Dharavi, where it pollutes the environment. There is no green channel to dispose or treat hazardous waste material correctly." Added to that is the fact that India is still undecided on the Reduction of Hazardous Substances European Union (EU) directive (ROHS). This means developed nations end up exporting their e-waste to our country.
It's not rubbish
Retailers like Bappa of Shama Electronics at Kandivali (East), say it is too much trouble to lug e-waste all
the way to a recycling plant in Vasai. "We take back old phones, re-use parts that are in working condition, like the display, the plastic covering or the keypad. The rest is thrown away.
No one bothers recycling," he admits.
Scrap dealers are also part of the dangerous chain. "Once we get an old PC, radio or TV from customers, we sell it to dealers, who dismantle and sell it at Chor Bazaar. From there, what can be extracted is sold to smelters, the rest is dumped as garbage," says Ramesh, a scrap dealer in Bandra.
It's your responsibility
Various assessments have pegged e-waste generation from households in India at about 25 per cent. Imagine most of those toxins finding their way back into the atmosphere. The problem, Soni believes, is that most people are unaware, or don't care about the effects of these toxins, "Everybody wants to make money. You'd rather sell your old laptop for some cash than forgo that small amount and recycle it. What you've got to understand is that clean air, water and food are far more important than hankering after a bargain".
What you should do
While Agarwal agrees that it's tough to be environmentally conscious in the absence of legislation and in the face of logistical impracticalities, that's no excuse for apathy. You can prolong the life of your equipment. Don't upgrade or buy new gadgets unless you really need to. If you must resell, enquire with the retailer about where it will go next.
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E-waste scare
According to Recycling-from e-Waste to Resources, a report commissioned by the United Nations Environment Programme, by 2020, India's e-waste from old computers will jump 500 per cent from what it used to be in 2007.
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E-waste from mobile phones in the same period is forecasted to rise 18 times in India. Old pen drives, outdated TVs, refrigerators, music systems -- name any electronic device, and you'll find that the hazardous substances
they contain find their way back into your system. According to Achim Steiner, executive director, United Nations Environment Program, India may also face rising environmental damage and health problems if e-waste recycling is left to the vagaries of the unorganised sector. Worse still, most of these workers are kids and women who are exposed to deadly toxins.
Companies doing their bit
LG: India reuses parts that can be fixed, while the rest is dismantled and sent to a recycling plant.
NOKIA: You can drop phones, chargers and batteries, irrespective of the brand into over 1,300 recycling points at Nokia Care Centres or Priority Dealers across India, and they will be recycled properly. They will also plant a sapling for every handset collected.
HCL INFOSYSTEMS: You can deposit your e-waste, irrespective of the brand at HCL centres. You will get a receipt, and authorised e-waste collection and recycling agencies will segregate and dispose it in an environmentally safe manner. The eWaste helpdesk is reachable ewaste.safe@hclp.in.
How e-waste affects your health
Lead: widely used in lead-acid batteries, cable sheathing, in the glass of CRTs, printed circuit boards. Can cause diarrhea, coma, appetite loss in the short-term. Long-term exposure can affect kidneys, damage nerves and cause blood and brain disorders.
Mercury: used in the production of electrical equipment and found concentrated in batteries, switches and thermostats, and fluorescent lamps. It can cause brain and liver damage.
Arsenic: used in circuit boards, LCDs and computer chips, it can cause skin diseases, digestive problems and decrease nerve conduction velocity.
POLL REVELATIONS
In a spot poll we conducted among 50 mobile-phone users (aged 20 to 50),
44% said they had changed 2 phones in 3 years.
24% -- 3 phones in 3 years
14%u00a0 -- 1 phone in 3 years
10% -- 4 phones in 3 years
8%u00a0 -- over 4 phones in 3 years
64% had no idea what happens to their mobile once it 'dies' or reaches the end of it's life
24% believed it was recycled by an agency, the waste picker, or the retailer
12% said it ended up at the garbage dump as e-waste
How Ecoreco does it
E-waste is picked up from corporates and companies who've decided to upgrade their systems and retire outdated electronic goods
Their pick-up truck has a built-in shredder for companies wary of parting with hard disks containing confidential data. The hard disks are shredded in the company's premises, using the shredder inside the truck
The rest of the material is picked up and transported to the recycling plant in Vasai 
A team of engineers checks the waste to see if any of it can be repaired and reused. What's repaired is resold in the second-hand market
The rest is first dismantled, and parts containing potentially hazardous substances, like the printed circuit boards that contain lead, are separated 
The rest is shredded, and divided into metallic and non-metallic parts (plastic, glass, etc) which are sold to smelters who recycle and use them in various products
The separated hazardous material is sent to a treatment facility that disposes them using government-approved rules and guidelines
What happens to your e-waste now?
You buy a new phone, use it for a year or so, and then decide to buy a new one
The old phone is sold to a mobile phone shop
...or the raddiwalla for a small price
...or dumped in the garbage.
The retailer checks the phone, repairs what can be fixed, and reuses parts of it in another product and resells it. Parts that cannot be used or fixed (a swollen/leaking battery, for instance) are resold to dealers, who in turn sell it to waste pickers.
The waste picker/scrap dealer extracts precious metals (copper from PVC wires, gold, silver from printed circuit boards, etc) by burning or boiling them in acid, and resells them to smelters.
The acid waste is discarded in dumps or water bodies, and the rest is discarded in the open.
Your garbage is picked up, searched through by scrap dealers and waste pickers, who once again resell what they can, and dump the rest.
You inhale, eat and drink these hazardous substances once they make their way into the soil, air and groundwater system.
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