The worst is the ewaste epidemic currently taking India by storm, the tragic reality of this influx of computers, printers, mobiles phones etc. is that a huge proportion of it is generated off shore and imported into India under the guise of re-use or legitimate ewaste recycling.
A recent report by India’s Department of Scientific Industrial Research reveals that e-waste heading into India is increasing by 10% a year. The sad truth of this increase is that nearly all of it is heading into urban slums for unsafe disassembly – subsequently, a huge amount of toxins are hitting a huge number of people.
E-waste contains toxic substances such as lead, cadmium, mercury, plastic, PVC, barium, beryllium and carcinogens such as carbon black and heavy metals. If they are not recycled properly; this deadly mix can pose disastrous health and environmental problems.
In the Slums of Delhi discarded computers, monitors and keyboards are reduced to pieces. Areas such as Loni and Mandoli specialize in open burning and acid baths for extraction of metals and so on. The recycling of this hazardous waste should only ever take place in accredited recycling facilities where the proper safety precautions are in place.
According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) of India, the country was standing on a pile of 1,46,180 tonnes of e-waste as “inventory” in 2005.
The following Greenpeace documentary uncovers the truth about Delhi’s ewaste recycling…
Thankfully with the bad there is also some good on the ewaste news front in India…
One of India’s relatively small PC manufacturing companies, Wipro has beaten the some of the big electronic giants like Dell, Samsung and Lenovo to the finish line in producing a computer free of the worst toxic chemicals, a major first for India. The new computer, named “Greenware” is free of both hazardous PVC (polyvinyl chloride) and BFRs (brominated flame retardants).
2010 is the year many electronics companies pledged to remove toxic chemicals like PVC and BFRs. Those that took this pledge seriously, like Apple, HP and Nokia are now delivering. Other companies that are far bigger than Wipro in the global market, such as Dell, Lenovo, and Samsung, are failing to come up with the green goods.
How to dispose and recycle your old electronic equipment safely
1800ewaste is Australia’s leading ewaste collection and recycling service. We are passionate about diverting as much electronic equipment from landfill and export as possible. We believe in prolonging the lifespan of valuable materials by recycling all that we can, currently 95-98%, by weight, of all the materials we collect are recycled for future use. Our service is professional, fast and reliable, we’ll come to you, collect your ewaste and deliver it to the appropriate recycling facility. 1800ewaste only recycles with ISO14001 accredited Australian recycling facilities.
If you’re interested in having your e-waste recycled please give us a call today
1800EWASTE, 1800 392 783