E-waste Conference: Human greed leading to growing e-waste volumes

By Anil Mathews (ScrapMonster Author)

January 14, 2016 07:45:42 AM

NEW DELHI (Scrap Monster): The two-day national conference on E-waste management organized by the Center for Global Management and Responsible Leadership (CGMRL) of Xavier Labour Relations Institute (XLRI), Jamshedpur, India commenced in Jamshedpur on Jan 13th. The participants of the conference noted that e-waste is turning out to be one of the most serious environmental concerns. However, it also highlighted that proper recycling of discarded electronics could generate huge quantities of metals such as copper and gold.

According to Pranabesh Ray, Dean (Academics), XLRI - Xavier School of Management, properly managed e-waste could generate more quantities of gold and silver than those obtained through mining. If processed properly recycled, one million discarded cell phones could produce 50 pounds of gold and 20,000 pounds of copper.

Ray highlighted the importance of boosting recycling efforts. Around 64.5 million tonnes of electronic waste are generated per annum across the globe, out of which only around 40% is processed systematically. According to statistics released in 2014, India ranked third in the world in e-waste generation, producing 1.7 million tonnes of e-waste. The volume of discarded e-waste in the country is growing every day. Nearly 70% of the end-of-life electronic gadgets end up in landfill, thereby leading to serious environmental issues.

The human trend to switch to newer and latest versions of electronic gadgets is the key reason behind growing e-waste volumes in the country. People tend to discard even working devices to get them replaced by newly introduced advanced models. The conference also stressed the need to develop a mechanism to extend the life of electronic gadgets.

The E-waste management conference is scheduled to end today with a workshop aimed at formulating strategies to manage e-waste.