Thursday, April 24, 2014: A new Assocham study has shockingly revealed that over 95 per cent of e-waste generated in India is managed by the unorganised sector with over 4.5 lakh child labourers (10-14 years of age) being engaged in various e-waste activities across the country. The study reveals that these child labourers work without being provided adequte protection and goes on to propose a legislation to prevent a child’s entry into this labour market.
According to the study, India produces nearly 12.5 lakh tonnes of electronic waste every year with Mumbai (96,000) topping the list in generating e-waste followed Delhi-NCR (67,000) and Bangalore (57,000). Of these, computer equipment accounts for almost 68 per cent of the e-waste material followed by telecommunication equipment (12 per cent), electrical equipment (8 per cent) and medical equipment (7 per cent). Unfortunately, only 4 per cent of the total e-waste gets recycled owing to poor infrastructure, legislation and framework with the informal recycling industry employing children to dismantle electronic waste. “E-waste typically includes discarded computer monitors, motherboards, Cathode Ray Tubes (CRT), Printed Circuit Board (PCB), mobile phones and chargers, compact discs, headphones, white goods such as Liquid Crystal Displays (LCD)/ Plasma televisions, air conditioners, refrigerators and so on. With increasing use of these in our everyday life, e-waste is also piling up. Almost half of all unused and end-of-life electronic products lie idle in landfills, junkyards and warehouses”, says the Assocham report.
Over 70 per cent of e-waste contributors are government, public and private industries with household waste contributing about 15 per cent. “Domestic e-waste including computer, TV, mobiles and refrigerators contain over 1,000 toxic material, which contaminate soil and ground water. Exposure can cause headache, irritability, nausea, vomiting and eyes pain. Recyclers may suffer liver, kidney and neurological disorders,” Dr BK Rao, Chairman of Assocham Health committee was quoted as saying.
