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Share innovative ideas on circular economy in E-waste

Innovative ideas on circular economy in E-waste
Start Date :
Feb 01, 2022
Last Date :
Feb 15, 2022
23:45 PM IST (GMT +5.30 Hrs)
Submission Closed

Innovative ideas on circular economy in E-waste ...

Innovative ideas on circular economy in E-waste

Today, electronic waste poses a significant challenge for society. With the introduction of innovative features and up-gradation, people are changing their devices by discarding the old ones, thereby contributing to the generation of electronic waste significantly.

Replacing the linear systems with circular in electrical and electronic equipment intends to maximize value at each life-cycle stage by reusing, repairing, recovering remanufacturing, regenerating products and material.

Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY) observes Swachhata Pakhwada 2022 from 1st February 2022 to 15th February 2022 promoting ‘E-waste se Raksha- Swachhata hi Suraksha’. Citizens are invited to share their innovative ideas on how circular economy practices can help in sustainable and efficient E-waste Management.

The best entries from the citizens will be identified by the Ministry and will be featured on the MyGov page.

The last date to receive suggestions is 15th February 2022.

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Showing 862 Submission(s)
SUTHAHAR P
SUTHAHAR P 4 years 2 months ago
The citizens have a very important role to play in e-waste management. We casually throw many small gadgets along with dumped waste and many people openly burn those accumulated waste. A number of hazardous substances such as dioxins and furans are released in the process which we breathe. This is a very unhealthy practice, which we should immediately stop. Some of the very progressive Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs) have separate bins clearly marked for collecting e-wastes. All the other residential societies should follow this practice. Students and Women SHGs can be mobilized for this activity in their respective RWAs.
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SUTHAHAR P
SUTHAHAR P 4 years 2 months ago
E-waste is a rich source of metals such as gold, silver, and copper, which can be recovered and brought back into the production cycle. There is significant economic potential in the efficient recovery of valuable materials in e-waste and can provide income-generating opportunities for both individuals and enterprises. The E-Waste Management Rules, 2016 were amended by the government in March 2018 to facilitate and effectively implement the environmentally sound management of e-waste in India. The amended Rules revise the collection targets under the provision of EPR with effect from October 1, 2017. By way of revised targets and monitoring under the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), effective and improved management of e-waste would be ensured.
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SUTHAHAR P
SUTHAHAR P 4 years 2 months ago
The integration of the informal sector into a transparent recycling system is crucial for a better control on environmental and human health impacts. There have been some attempts towards integrating the existing informal sector in the emerging scenario. Organizations such as GIZ have developed alternative business models in guiding the informal sector association towards authorization. These business models promote a city-wide collection system feeding the manual dismantling facility and a strategy towards best available technology facilities to yield higher revenue from printed circuit boards. By replacing the traditional wet chemical leaching process for the recovery of gold with the export to integrated smelters and refineries, safer practices and a higher revenue per unit of e-waste collected are generated.
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SUTHAHAR P
SUTHAHAR P 4 years 2 months ago
Almost all e-wastes contain some form of recyclable material, including plastic, glass, and metals; however, due to improper disposal methods and techniques these materials cannot be retrieved for other purposes. If e-waste is dismantled and processed in a crude manner, its toxic constituents can wreak havoc on the human body. Processes such as dismantling components, wet chemical processing, and incineration are used to dispose the waste and result in direct exposure and inhalation of harmful chemicals. Safety equipment such as gloves and face masks are not widely used, and workers often lack the knowledge and experience required to carry out their jobs properly. In addition to this, manual extraction of toxic metals leads to entering of dangerous material in the bloodstream of the individual doing so. The health hazards range from kidney and liver damage to neurological disorders
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SUTHAHAR P
SUTHAHAR P 4 years 2 months ago
Recycling of e-waste scrap is polluting the water, soil, and the air. Burning to retrieve metal from wires and cables has led to the emission of brominated and chlorinated dioxins as well as carcinogens which pollute the air and, thereby, cause cancer in humans and animals. Toxic chemicals that have no economic value are simply dumped during the recycling process. These toxic chemicals leach into underground aquifer thereby degrading the local groundwater quality and rendering the water unfit for human consumption as well as agricultural purposes. When e-waste is dumped in landfills, the lead, mercury, cadmium, arsenic, and PCBs make the soil toxic and unfit for agricultural purposes.
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SUTHAHAR P
SUTHAHAR P 4 years 2 months ago
Very recent studies on recycling of e-waste has pointed towards increasing concentrations of PCBs, dioxins and furans, plasticizers, bisphenol-A (BPA), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), and heavy metals in the surface soil of the four metro cities of India, that is, New Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, and Chennai where e-waste is being processed by the informal sectors (Chakraborty et al., 2018 and 2019). In those studies, it has been observed that the sites engaged in metal recovery processes are the prime sites for such persistent toxic substances. Studies from the same group also reported that the persistent organic pollutants produced or released during the recycling process are escaping in the ambient air due to their semi-volatile nature.
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SUTHAHAR P
SUTHAHAR P 4 years 2 months ago
Seelampur in Delhi is the largest e-waste dismantling centre of India. Adults as well as children spend 8–10 hours daily extracting reusable components and precious metals like copper, gold and various functional parts from the devices. E-waste recyclers use processes such as open incineration and acid-leeching. This situation could be improved by creating awareness and improving the infrastructure of recycling units along with the prevalent policies. The majority of the e-waste collected in India is managed by an unorganized sector. Also, informal channels of recycling/reuse of electronics such as repair shops, used product dealers, e-commerce portal vendors collect a significant proportion of the discarded electronics for reuse and cannibalization of parts and components.
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SUTHAHAR P
SUTHAHAR P 4 years 2 months ago
E-waste collection, transportation, processing, and recycling is dominated by the informal sector. The sector is well networked and unregulated. Often, all the materials and value that could be potentially recovered is not recovered. In addition, there are serious issues regarding leakages of toxins into the environment and workers’ safety and health.
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SUTHAHAR P
SUTHAHAR P 4 years 2 months ago
India ranks 177 amongst 180 countries and is amongst the bottom five countries on the Environmental Performance Index 2018, as per a report released at the World Economic Forum 2018. This was linked to poor performance in the environment health policy and deaths due to air pollution categories. Also, India is ranked fifth in the world amongst top e-waste producing countries after the USA, China, Japan, and Germany and recycles less than 2 per cent of the total e-waste it produces annually formally. Since 2018, India generates more than two million tonnes of e-waste annually, and also imports huge amounts of e-waste from other countries around the world. Dumping in open dumpsites is a common sight which gives rise to issues such as groundwater contamination, poor health, and more.
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SUTHAHAR P
SUTHAHAR P 4 years 2 months ago
Consumers are the key to better management of e-waste. Initiatives such as Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR); Design for Environment (DfE); Reduce, Reuse, Recycle (3Rs), technology platform for linking the market facilitating a circular economy aim to encourage consumers to correctly dispose their e-waste, with increased reuse and recycling rates, and adopt sustainable consumer habits. In developed countries, e-waste management is given high priority, while in developing countries it is exacerbated by completely adopting or replicating the e-waste management of developed countries and several related problems including, lack of investment and technically skilled human resources. In addition, there is lack of infrastructure and absence of appropriate legislations specifically dealing with e-waste.
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