Less than 5 pc of total e-waste in India recycled: Assocham

Less than five per cent of India's total electronic waste (e-waste) gets recycled due to absence of proper infrastructure, legislation and framework, industry body Assocham said today.

In its analysis on the World Environment Day, it said that India, growing at a compounded annual growth rate of about 20 per cent, annually generates over 4.4 lakh tonnes of e-waste.

Almost half of all unused and end-of-life electronic products lie idle in landfills, junkyards and warehouses, it said.

Computer equipment accounts for almost 68 per cent of e-waste material followed by telecommunication equipment (12 per cent), electrical equipment (eight) and medical equipment (seven). Other equipment, including household e-crap account for the remaining five per cent, it said.

"Over 90 per cent of e-waste generated in India is managed by the unorganised sector and scrap dealers in this market dismantle the disposed products instead of recycling it," Assocham General Secretary D S Rawat said, while releasing the findings of the chamber's analysis.

However most of these products can be recycled, refurbished and redeployed going down the value chain and reused by a bit of reconstruction process, reducing overall impact on the environment, he said.

Though the organised sector accounts for less than 10 per cent of the recycling business, there is huge scope for growth as the recyclers and suppliers are engaging with IT giants and other enterprises to dispose e-devices efficiently, he said.

Assocham suggested that used computers and discarded consumer durables be collected and donated to schools and orphanages run by non-profit organisations and other agencies involved in social cause through refurbishment.

"Besides, E-recyclers must use the platform of industry bodies like Assocham to avoid bottlenecks in building an effective reverse supply chain for e-waste and together support the government to promote advanced e-waste collection methods and create awareness amid consumers vis-à-vis environmental impact of e-waste," he said.

Assocham requested the government to collaborate with industry through the chambers to create social consciousness amid consumers to take care of the environment, thereby ensuring safe management of e-waste.

"Industry and government promoting such a campaign together would certainly add legitimacy to the industry’s commitment towards awakening the consumers," he said.

Releasing its green-initiatives advisory, Assocham urged industry leaders to improve environmental sustainability by extracting full functional value from their e-assets by getting them recycled instead of discarding them well ahead of their useful life in favour of more sophisticated electronic devices.