e-Swachh Bharath- a novel initiative for e-waste management
‘We Are United’ in association with ‘Cyber Safe Girl’ has come out with a novel initiative-eSwachh Bharat a first of its kind programme for e- waste management. The objective of this initiative is to create awareness about e-waste and encourage people to reduce, re-use and recycle e-waste and make it a part of the Swachh Bharat initiative. It has also been planned to inaugurate e-Swachh Bharath programme on October 2.
As part of this first of its kind programme, ‘We Are United’ and ‘Cyber Safe Girl’ plans to take up the following steps.
1. Visit 200 apartments and display the poster on collection of e-waste on the notice board there with due mention of the collection date.
2. Visit the apartment and collect the e-waste.
4. Recycle the e-waste in a responsible manner.
5. A copy of Cyber Safe Girl will be distributed to all those who support this initiative by donating e-waste.
6. Certificate of Appreciation to highest e-waste donors.
The organisations also aim to create awareness about the various regulations associated with e-waste. The Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) is primarily responsible for regulations regarding electronic waste. Additionally, the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and State Pollution Control Board (SPCB) produce implementation procedures to ensure proper management of rules set forth by the MoEFCC which include E-Waste Management and Handling Rules, 2011 ; E-Waste Management Rules, 2016 and Amendment to the E-Waste Management Rules, 2018.
About Electronic Waste or e-waste:
Electronic waste (e-waste) refers to the broken or obsolete electronic components and materials. Technology is becoming more and more integrated into every aspect of our lives. Semi-conductors and sensors are being added to products that never before had them, creating wearable monitors, smart homes, TVs that can stream programming from the internet, and much more.
With the usage of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) on the rise, the amount of electrical and electronic waste (e-waste) produced each day is equally growing enormously around the globe. E-waste materials may be valuable and recyclable, such as random access memory and re-usable laptops. However, hazardous materials, such as cathode ray tube monitors, require special handling in disposal. Commonly discarded electronic products include computers, televisions, stereos, copiers and fax machines.
Electronic waste is emerging as a serious public health and environmental issue in India which is the “fifth largest electronic waste producer in the world.” Approximately 2 million tons of e-waste are generated annually and an undisclosed amount of e-waste is imported from other countries around the world. Annually, computer devices account for nearly 70% of e-waste, 12% comes from the telecom sector, 8% from medical equipment and 7% from electric equipment. The government, public sector companies, and private sector companies generate nearly 75% of electronic waste, with the contribution of individual households being only 16%.
India had 1.012 billion active mobile connections in January 2018. Every year the number is growing exponentially. According to a January 2019 report from the World Economic Forum, e-waste is now the fastest-growing waste stream in the world, with an estimated waste stream of 48.5 million tonnes in 2018.
Electronic devices are made of a complex mix of materials that include gold, silver, copper, platinum, palladium, lithium, cobalt and other valuable elements. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says, “One metric ton of circuit boards can contain 40 to 800 times the amount of gold and 30 to 40 times the amount of copper mined from one metric ton of ore in the United States.” These precious materials can be reclaimed through recycling.
But electronic devices also comprise toxic heavy metals like lead, mercury, cadmium and beryllium, polluting PVC plastic and hazardous chemicals, such as brominated flame retardants, which can harm human health and the environment.
Children are especially vulnerable to the health risks that may result from e-waste exposure and, therefore, need more specific protection. Many children are exposed to e-waste-derived chemicals in their daily life due to unsafe recycling activities that are often conducted at their home- either by family members or by the children themselves. Furthermore, children may be exposed through dump sites located close to their homes, schools and play areas.
As more people buy electronic equipment, manufacturers are beginning to face shortages of the raw materials needed to make their products, so reclaiming and reusing the materials from discarded products and waste—a process called urban mining—makes economic and environmental sense. A recent study in China found that mining copper, gold and aluminium from ore costs 13 times more than recovering the metals through the urban mining of e-waste.
In Press Meet Dr.Ananth Prabhu G, Professor –Sahyadri college of Engineering and management, J Koragappa Trustee Vikaas Group of Institutions, Azfar Razak- President We are United, Rakshith Shetty, Krishna Shetty, advisor we we are united, Rajesh K R and Others were Present.
