14.3 E-Waste, What Are They?

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unprocessed, they can cause undesirable impact on human health and environ-

ment. Therefore, it is prudent to handle properly and recycle e-waste in a special

way. Disposing them in incinerators or landfill creates trouble to environment,

socio-economic impact due to the growing e-waste production [16].

14.3.1

E-Waste Production Scale

In India, household wastes are often found mixed with electronic wastes due to lack

of knowledge on waste management and are subsequently disposed in landfills or

incinerated. In 2015, 4.1 Mt. of e-waste was generated and is expected to reach 8 Mt.

by 2025. Poor awareness about waste management, deprived collection mechanisms,

improper processing methods, and illegal dumping among the users can cause seri-

ous threats to both human health and the environment [16]. In 2005, United States

generated 80% of e-waste and exported it to India, China, and Pakistan. Only 3% of

the total was recycled properly in India, while the remaining wastes were handled

by workers using bare hands causing health impact. Although laws are made for

appropriate recycling, due to low literacy levels and very little awareness regarding

the hazards of e-waste among workers working in recycling areas, recycling is still

done in an inappropriate way. In India, about 70% of e-waste is generated from top

10 states and from top 10 cities. Workers face serious health-related issues from the

major e-waste dismantling areas and workshops present in India [17]. Delhi and

Mumbai are the major cities involved in the e-waste dismantling unit. In 2014, India

emerges as the largest producer of e-waste and ranks fifth in the world. In India,

1.7 Mt. electrical devices and electronics are discarded in 2014 and reached 2.0 Mt.

by 2016.

14.3.2

Pollution Caused by E-Waste

Electronic devices contain toxic substances which cause threat to environmental and

human health when disposed and also when they are transported by road and water-

ways, they become problematic. E-waste from chip resistors and semiconductors row

head contains cadmium which can cause damage to lungs, kidney and nervous sys-

tems, lithium passes through breast milk to babies from lithium-ion batteries. Use

of bare hands for the separation and arranging of e-wastes contributes to failure of

respiratory system, also causes skin disorders and if burning is used for separation it

produces volatilized contaminants and can cause chronic respiratory disorders [18].

It was considered that the main pathway for the entry of e-waste into humans is

air through inhalation, ingestion, or skin absorption. Large amount of WEEE from

several countries is discarded in landfill or incineration each year which causes envi-

ronmental pollution. Computers and cathode ray tubes are the largest sources for

the e-waste stream, and solid waste management for e-waste is a huge task, par-

ticularly computer wastes. The leachate generated from e-wastes during leaching

process from dumping sites contaminates water bodies thereby affecting organisms

living in water. Huge amount of Cu during disposal is released into the environment,

and on combustion, e-wastes produces chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) that can cause

ozone depletion.