A comparision of e-waste management policies of india with other countries-a case study

Abstract

E-waste is the term considered for electronics waste. Another term WEEE is also used which means a waste of electrical and electronics equipment. E-waste is a new field of research as per Indian concept. The world generated approx. 45 million tonnes of e-waste in 2016 as per the United Nations report. This amount of e-waste is equal to the weight of 4500 Eiffel towers. India’s contribution to this e-waste is more than 4 %. Variety of products are available in the electronics market due to availability of lots of electronics companies. As per the government. The initiative “Made in India” foreign companies are coming to set up their organization in India. They are setting up their manufacturing units in India. Today, Latest technology is available at a comparatively cheaper rate. Due to this reason, today Indians are changing their e-gadgets like their clothes. This ultimately leads to increase in generation of e-waste. Second main reason for huge e-waste generation of e-waste in India is the population of our country. Most of the population is in their young age in our country. They use the latest electronics gadgets for their daily needs. Every mobile manufacturer companies launching new mobile phones with in one or two months. The new product is coming with the latest features and software version. Due to the change in technology, youngsters of India are changing their electronics products very frequently. This also leads to the increase in e-waste generation. As in India, awareness of hazardous effects of e-waste is very low. This is a very alarming stage for Indian as e-waste causes so many serious diseases. Electronic industry is not a neat and clean industry as considered earlier. It causes kidney failure, serious lung infection and adverse effect on nervous system, etc. The study was conducted to compare the Indian e-waste management policies with other countries to find out the limitations in Indian policies.