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Vast amounts of hazardous electronic waste unaccounted
By siliconindia
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Friday, 22 February 2008, 17:18 IST
New Delhi: According to a report 'Toxic Tech: Not in Our Backyard1', released by Greenpeace, some electronic waste may be accounted for by storage in attics or garages, while much may be disposed of with mixed waste in landfills and incinerators or being exported - often illegally - for dumping in Africa or for rudimentary recycling in Asia, where it has a high toll on health, safety and the environment.
Even in regions such as the EU with tough regulation, no precise information is available on what happens to as much as 75 percent of e-waste generated. In the United States of America, this figure could be as high as 80 percent or even more, since the amount of e-waste which is reported for recovery includes some of the e-waste exported to developing countries.
In newly industrialized countries it is almost impossible to estimate the amount of e-waste going unprocessed, although in India, it is estimated that around 99 percent of domestic and imported e-waste - 3, 00,000 tonnes per annum - ends up in the informal recycling sector or is simply dumped.
"It is the scrap yard workers in Asia who are bearing the toxic burden of e-waste. They are exposed to a cocktail of toxic chemicals when the products are broken apart, polluting the water, air and soil of not only the scrap yards but the surrounding neighbourhood2," said Martin Hojsik, Greenpeace International toxics campaigner. "The mountain of obsolete electronic products is growing at alarming rate as our consumption of electronic devices continues to grow rapidly3," he added.
Figures provided by three authorized recyclers in India suggest that currently only around 9 percent of end-of-life products are being recycled properly. The figures for mobile phones are not available any where. This means that, even for those companies reporting their own-brands, the hidden flow of e-waste from branded products currently amounts to an average of 91 percent of past sales.
"If not addressed urgently, unaccounted for e-waste not ending up at the proper recycling facilities could pose a serious threat to our environment. If 90 per cent of the waste is missing despite most of the companies' voluntary take-back initiatives, then this is really serious," said Ramapati Kumar, Greenpeace India toxics campaigner.