Sub Optimal E-Waste Management and the Lost Opportunity

Year 2018, Volume: 1 Issue: 1, 14 - 22, 01.01.2018

Rakesh Tyagi Priyanka Kaushal

Abstract

Electronic waste or e-waste is the waste
generated from discarded and end of life electronic items. In recent times with
change in lifestyle and improved purchasing capacity of people has accelerated
the demand of new and improved electronic items, quick technology obsolescence,
as a consequence the generation of e-waste has seen a huge rise. In year 2016,
globally 93.5 tons of E-waste was generated, India, one of the leading
producers of e-waste, produced 1.65 Million tones of E-waste. Apart from
domestic generation, a huge chunk of global e-waste was also dumped in India. 90
% of the e-waste is handled and managed by the unorganized sector. Hence there
is a dire need to develop a mechanism to handle the enormous flux of e-waste in
India. In this paper the e-waste sector has been reviewed. Also a detailed
analysis of the material flow in the e-waste sector has been done. Results
reveal that if mismanaged, e-waste can impose huge environmental penalty, however
if it is regulated and handled scientifically it can become an asset for
resource recovery whose carbon footprint is 70-80 % lower than its primary
production

Keywords

E-Waste, stakeholder, policies, emission, reduction

References

• Priyanka Kaushal, Rakesh Tyagi “Advanced simulation of biomass gasification in a fluidized bed reactor using ASPEN PLUS,” Renewable Energy,” Renewable Energy, Volume 101, pp.629-636, 2017