DHARNA TIWARI*, GAUTAM MEHRA, AMBRINA SARDAR KHAN AND NIDHI GAUBA DHAWAN
Amity Institute of Environmental Sciences, Amity University Uttar Pradesh (AUUP), Sector-125, Noida-201 301 (U. P.), India
*(e-mail : dharnatiwari@gmail.com; Mobile : 9891544829)
(Received : March 20, 2019; Accepted : May 18, 2019)
ABSTRACT
Informal sector plays a major role in recycling of e-waste. The process involves burning, cyanide treatment and dissolution of materials into acid baths to recover precious metals. All of these activities are performed without any use of Personal Protective Equipment with scant regard for personal health and environment. It contributes to emissions of dioxins, heavy metals such as lead, cadmium, mercury, etc. in the environment with the workers exposed to potential threat to their life. Effective reprocessing technology, which recovers the valuable materials with minimal environmental impact, is expensive and not available in the country at present. Different studies have reported that although e-waste recycling processes and units in India are prevalent, much of the recycling is done by the informal sector. The paper highlights, operation and systemic changes by the government and private sector to formalize the informal sector in e-waste to improve the e-waste management system.
Key words : E-waste, land, advanced technology, informal sector, resource efficiency, material recovery, sustainability