It’s raining electronic debris

The central government began to amend the guidelines to facilitate BPOs, and ITeS, making it easier for the companies to work-from-home. After the global coronavirus outbreak, everything went digital, and the digital ecosystem relies heavily on electronic equipment. The work from home culture, amidst Covid-19, triggered an influx of gadgets, combined with burgeoning devices that support online classes and digital transformation in everyday-life, increasing India’s e-waste.

Globally, electronic waste is increasing rapidly due to innovation and the subsequent upgrade of electronic devices. Electronics and digital consumers are adopting the innovation and automation of new technology at the speed of light, while public knowledge and awareness of the hazards of e-waste, conversely, is moving in an inchmeal fashion. India has a low recycling rate to total e-waste generation, a historical anomaly not corrected since the evolution of smartphones and IT-boom. As per the UN’s Global E-waste Monitor 2020, India is ranked third among the world’s largest e-waste generators. Notwithstanding, e-waste recycling in India is still an inchoate sector, as the compatible infrastructure for e-waste treatment is limited in proportion to the e-waste generation. Informal recycling survived under the ambit of the flexible legislative framework. India is producing as much as three million tonnes of electronic waste per annum, out of which barely eight lakh tonnes is recycled in an environment-friendly way. Only 17% of the 53 million tonnes of e-waste generated globally is recycled thereby, squandering nearly US $62 billion of worth since electronic waste contains precious metals like gold, silver, copper, among other things.

Covid-19 has not only had burdened corporates, MSMEs, and small traders with procuring additional hardware to facilitate their employees to work from home but has also resulted in discarding and abandoning numerous desktops, printers at workplaces as they are not anticipated to be a necessity anymore. Furthermore, parents are left with no option but to purchase electronic devices for students to attend online classes. If these factors are taken into consideration, the generation of e-waste is likely to increase multifold, affecting the existing capacity of recycling and adversely impacting our environment. Most modern gadgets, including smartphones, tablets and laptops, are highly portable but come with a shorter lifespan of two years. The more the usage, the greater the wear-and-tear, which leads to a ballooning e-waste related pollution. Digital dependency and the consumption of information, coupled with prolonged use of electronic gadgets, shorter lifespans of equipment, forces consumers to discard worn-out electronic devices rapidly. Studies reveal that a quarter of consumers toss electronic gadgets within their periods of useful lives.

India is the only country in Southern Asia with an electronic waste regulation since 2011. One such policy is the EPR (Extended Producer Responsibility) – first pioneered in Sweden by Thomas Lindhqvist – which was introduced in India by the E-waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 2011. EPR makes all the producers of the electronic appliances responsible for waste management of their respective products. In 2016, the central government came up with ‘The e-waste Management Rules 2016’, a new set of legislation for the management of electronic waste. The amended law is analogously more effective and provides additional incentives to the producers and as well as consumers to help recycle e-waste.

During the pandemic and WFH regime, the collection and disposal of worn-out batteries, cartridges, and other electronic equipment at IT and corporate offices, under the e-waste management rules- 2016, could be a thing of the past. On the other hand, individual users and employees operating from home are not obligated to keep e-waste separate from household waste. That said, there are some looming risks. Despite legislation in place, there is still a gap in knowledge and awareness of communities on the issues of e-waste handling and management. It is essential to understand the knowledge and awareness levels of consumers of electronic products who ultimately become the generators of e-waste.

However, it is not hard for logic to prevail over ignorance. We must amend the ‘E-waste Management Rules 2016’ to widen the scope and bring every retailer, buyer, end-user, repairing shop and mechanic into its purview. The onus of segregation and safe disposal of e-waste also lies with the end-user. Hence, every end-user must be mandated to pledge by signing a declaration at the time of purchase of electronic goods. Parallelly, every electronics repair shop must be equipped with an e-waste bin to collect and segregate e-waste and transport it to authorised dismantlers and recyclers. The easiest way to dispose of abandoned electrical equipment is to return it to any electronic store or repair shop. Introducing carbon credits to every stakeholder, especially to the consumers, will do wonders. The user manual that comes with every gadget must contain literature detailing the process of disposal, collection, storage, transportation, segregation, refurbishment, dismantling, and recycling of e-waste.

(The writer is the founder, Environoholics, and Intern at Green Vortex)