Green Issues

E-WASTE |

A ‘GREEN ISSUES’ DISCUSSION DOCUMENTATION |

Submitted by-Ali Asgar SaeedAnvesh Jobalia Bhumi ShahCarol TauroHarsheel VyasMihir AmritwarN. RajeshNamrata KakadeUtsav Joshi |

E-WASTE

Introduction:

"Electronic waste" may be defined as discarded computers, office electronic equipment, entertainment device electronics, mobile phones, television sets and refrigerators. This definition includes used electronics which are destined for reuse, resale, salvage, recycling, or disposal. Others define the re-usables (working and repairable electronics) and secondary scrap (copper, steel, plastic, etc.) to be "commodities", and reserve the term "waste" for residue or material which is dumped by the buyer rather than recycled, including residue from reuse and recycling operations.

There is a lack of consensus as to whether the term should apply to resale, reuse, and refurbishing industries, or only to product that cannot be used for its intended purpose. Informal processing of electronic waste in developing countries may cause serious health and pollution problems, though these countries are also most likely to reuse and repair electronics. All electronic scrap components, such as CRTs, may contain contaminants such as lead, cadmium, beryllium, or brominated flame retardants. Even in developed countries recycling and disposal of e-waste may involve significant risk to workers and communities and great care must be taken to avoid unsafe exposure in recycling operations and leaching of material such as heavy metals from landfills and incinerator ashes. Scrap industry and USA EPA officials agree that materials should be managed with caution.

Arguments in favour of E-waste:

Now-a-days, electronic equipments are a necessity. We live in a world surrounded by electronic equipments. All the aspects of our life are covered in the utilization of electronics. Be it a mobile phone or a laptop, a refrigerator or a microwave, a television set or a music system, we...