Building a Wider
Horizon With Labour
E-waste is the fastest growing source of municipal waste on earth. The status of e-waste is mainly driven by the use of electronic equipments. By 2010, Greenpeace says there will be 80 million new users of electronic equipments in India alone. The e-waste recycling measures are still not effective. E-waste either ends up in landfills or is burnt by scrap handlers. If waste is left untreated to lie around in landfills or dumps, they leach into the surrounding soil and water, as well as the atmosphere, thereby generating obvious adverse effects for human health and ecology. And, if burnt, it releases toxic chemical fumes like dioxins into the atmosphere. Thus it becomes serious health hazard. The study analyses the status of three major drivers of e-waste: use of computers, mobile phones and television sets, possible health hazards due to e-waste and exiting legal frameworks for governing e-waste.
