E-WASTE IN INDIA: System Failure Imminent – Take Action NOW!

Title: E-WASTE IN INDIA: System Failure Imminent – Take Action NOW!
Publication Type: Research Reports
Year of Publication: 2004
Abstract: When you consider that the electronics industry is the fastest growing manufacturing industry, it is not surprising that discarded electronic waste is the fastest growing stream of waste in industrialised countries. The way these countries deal with this problem is to unethically export such e-waste to developing countries such as India, China and Pakistan, thereby shifting the onus of development to communities that are ill-equipped to deal with such waste. E-waste contains over 1,000 different substances and chemicals, many of which are toxic and are likely to create serious problems for the environment and human health if not handled properly. However, classification of e-waste as hazardous, or otherwise, depends on the amount of hazardous constituents present in it. The rapid obsolescence of electronics goods, compounded by dumping from developed countries, has brought the e-waste problem in India to the brink of spilling over into an acute crisis.