Handling Hazardous e-Waste

E lectronic equipment which become obsolete due to advancement in technology,

changes in fashion or nearing the end of their useful life give birth to

something called e-Waste. Today, the number of the machines and devices that are

being thrown out is increasing tremendously thus affecting our environment with

poisonous radiations from. Thus, there is a growing realisation that the issue

may take dangerous shape over the next few years if it continues to be so.

Why manage



e-Waste is hazardous. It contains several toxic substances like Lead,

Cadmium, Mercury, Hexavalent Chromium, Plastics (including PVC), brominated

flame retardants, Barium, Beryllium and Arsenic. All of these elements are toxic

and some are radioactive in nature, which make them more dangerous for us.

e-Wastes that are landfilled produces contaminated leachate which subsequently

pollute the groundwater. Acids obtained from melting computer chips, if disposed

on the ground causes acidification of soil.

Due to the lack of proper mechanisms and standards for disposal, these

substance often end their lives in the waste stream which is meant either for

recycling or for land fillings. e-Wastes are a matter of concern in India, as

the methods of e-Waste disposal are very rudimentary.

What do we do



The second question that might prick you is what do organizations do to get

rid of the e-Wastes that they generate on yearly basis? Well, rather than just

dumping them in a store room or throwing them in a wasteland, organizations sell

them to e-Waste management and recycling companies. And this process, if not

followed might create a situation that most of the earth will be covered with

e-Waste. There are couple of companies who provide solutions for this such as,

Attero Recycling -a Noida based company. The company does complete processing of

e-Waste with zero landfill. They have recently established a state-of-the art

e-Waste recycling facility in Roorkee which is spread over an area of more than

1,00,000 sq ft. This processes WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment)

such as, used computers, cell phones, network gear and TV in an environment

friendly manner with very high recycling efficiency. There are couple of others

in the market to offer the same.

How to reduce e-Waste



The best way is to downsize waste that is being generated by the

organization or even by an individual. For example, usage of bio-degradable

devices would surely reduce the number. But there aren't many such available in

the market today. Hence, technology must be taken to a level where

bio-degradable device can be manufactured easily and in a very large scale.

In case of an individual, one can opt for eco-friendly phones such as MOTO

W233 Renew which is the world's first mobile phone made of plastics comprised of

recycled water bottles. When designing the packaging, Motorola was able to

reduce its size by 22 percent, and the box and all of the materials inside are

printed on 100 percent post-consumer recycled paper. In addition, a postage-paid

recycling envelope in box makes it easy to return your previous mobile phone for

recycling at no cost. Sony Ericsson GreenHeart (a concept phone) includes

features such as bio-plastic housings, recycled plastic keypads, zero charger

with 3.5mW standby power, HTML based e-manuals, a game style educational

application 'Ecomate' and environmentally conscious packaging. By reducing and

recycling these hazardous material-containing products, consumers also can help

contribute to the reduction of the increasingly widespread problem. e-Waste

management should begin at the point of generation. Besides, Governments should

also set up regulatory agencies to curb the effects of the same.

Initiatives by organizations



There are organizations who have taken initiatives to recycle e-Waste. Some

rganizations are asking their consumers to return obsolete and useless gadgets

back to them, so that they can not only dump, but also also manage the waste.

Efforts in this regard from HCL involve e-Waste management, internal waste

programming, initiative on RoHS compliance, and customer awareness programs. It

has also set up its e-Waste helpdesk to support computer owners with solution of

any problem faced during disposal. Lenovo also encourages its customers to reuse

or recycle products at the end of their useful lives by offering consumers and

commercial clients a range of recycling options for end of life products,

batteries and product packaging worldwide. Lenovo has an option on its website

for recycling Lenovo and IBM branded PCs. Customers can return back their

obsolete or useless PCs or components to Lenovo through a third-party vendor,

which comprises this service fee of cost to Lenovo's customers. The products are

picked up from customers' premises itself. Dell also is not behind the league

with their e-Waste initiatives. They provide consumers with free and convenient

product recovery options directly to consumers to facilitate responsible product

retirement. They get in touch with their consumers through their ReGeneration

program such as Direct2Dell, IdeaStorm and Dell Earth.