Abstract
Electronic waste (E-waste) or waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) refers to obsolete and discarded appliances that operates on electricity. Due to our constantly evolving dependence on electrical and electronic equipments (EEEs) in every walk of lives, the amount of E-waste generated worldwide is thriving at an alarming rate, while the management practices and policy-level initiatives are still at an embryonic stage, especially in most of the developing countries. With respect to countries like India, the current methods of storage, processing, recycling, and disposal of E-waste have immense potential to harm human health and environment. This article is an attempt to evaluate the involvement of various stakeholders in the generation and management of E-waste in India by identifying and assessing them. The dominance of informal E-waste recycling sector along with its all socio-economic, health, and environmental implications is addressed. Current status of formal recycling units in the country is assessed upon. A case study assessing various stakeholders’ involvement is incorporated. The findings and conclusions of the article call for an integrated approach in Indian E-waste management scenario including significant considerations such as the identification of diverse range of stakeholders in the E-waste generation and management processes. A sustainable E-waste management system in the country is only possible by identification of the functionalities of various stakeholders.
Introduction
The management of electronic waste (E-waste) or waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) has become an environmental concern in developing countries due to illegal import or smuggling of WEEE, rapid growth of domestically generated WEEE, lack of prevention and minimization strategies, indiscriminate dumping and improper disposal of WEEE, and low awareness in the society about the environmental and health impacts of hazardous substances of WEEE (Afroz et al., 2013). In India, E-waste is becoming an important waste stream in terms of both quantity and toxicity (Wath et al., 2010). Further, electronic devices contain large numbers of reclaimable chemical compositions, among which precious metals are the most commonly desired components (Fu et al., 2013). Managing the ever-increasing volume of E-waste is a major challenge for most of the countries today, especially for the non-OECD countries. E-waste is one of the fastest growing pollution problems worldwide given the presence of a variety of toxic substances which can contaminate the environment and threaten human health, if disposal protocols are not meticulously managed (Kiddee, Naidu & Wong, 2013). The first major problem associated with E-waste management is its ever-increasing quantum, and the second is its scientific and environment-friendly disposal, which is very crucial (Wath et al., 2010).
Most developed countries are successfully managing the WEEE by formulating effective legislations, developing recycling infrastructures, and strictly adhering to the principle of extended producer responsibility (EPR) to command electronic manufacturers and importers to take back used electronic products (Afroz et al., 2013). However, India, today, is fraught with the emerging volume of E-waste which is either domestically generated or illegally imported due to unsustainable management practices fueled by increasing perplexity among diverse stakeholders. It is argued that due to low market penetration rate in the past, the stock of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) already put on the market has not been as large as that in OECD countries and the market of most products is far from saturated (Ongondo, Williams & Cherrett, 2011). Due to these developments, countries like India face a fast-increasing load of WEEE originating both inland and through illegal imports (Streicher-Porte et al., 2005). Managing the increasing quantum of E-waste effectively and efficiently—both in terms of cost and environmental impact—is a complex task (Sinha-Khetriwal, Kraeuchi & Schwaninger, 2005). While developed countries have organized systems for the collection, segregation, recycling, disposal, and monitoring (e.g., Switzerland), other countries (e.g., developing countries such as India and China) are still to find a solution that ensures minimizing the negative environmental and human health impacts of E-waste treatment and recycling. In the past few decades, treatment of E-waste has become a global waste management challenge owing to the fast obsolescence of modern technologies and the potential environmental and human exposures to hazardous materials during their recycling and disposal (Lau, Chung & Zhang, 2013).
Information on the generation, disposal, and flow of E-waste is important for the planning of cost-effective treatment and handling capacity in addition to estimating the scale and possible consequences of the mishandling of E-waste (Lau, Chung & Zhang, 2013). However, estimates of E-waste in India are unavailable, or at most hazy (D. Sinha, 2004). Skinner et al. (2010) argued that of the estimated 382,979 tonnes of E-waste generated in India, 144,143 tonnes entered the waste stream in the year 2007. The emergence of electronics and information technology (IT) or software services in India acted as a major catalyst toward ever-growing mount of E-waste in the country. For instance, according to MoEF (2008), the electronics industry has emerged as the fastest growing segment of Indian industry both in terms of production and exports. The report further states that the share of software services in electronics and IT sector has gone up from 38.7 percent in 1998–1999 to 61.8 percent in 2003–2004. This shift in the IT industry began with liberalization and the subsequent opening up of Indian markets (MoEF, 2008). Moreover, as stated by Streicher-Porte et al. (2005), although the per capita waste production in populous countries such as China and India is still relatively small, these countries are already huge producers of E-waste or WEEE. India by itself produces 400,000 tons of E-waste annually (Sthiannopkao & Wong, 2013).
Although, today, IT industries contribute the most significant share to the E-waste stream, consumer electronics also mark a major portion of it. Moreover, most of the businesses, other public and private sector establishments, hospitals, research and academic institutes, and people at the household level rely profoundly on EEEs and thus, add end-of-life electronic gadgets to the existing waste stream in the form of E-waste. United Nations estimates that the world generates 20–50 million tonnes of E-waste every year (Pariatamby & Victor, 2013). Thus, management of E-waste has been recognized as a great challenge to the human society (Zhang, Schnoor & Zeng, 2012).
Theoretical Framework and Methodology
Theoretical Framework
This study is rooted on the conceptual development of an integrated E-waste management system in India involving different stakeholders. Such a management system has the ability to include social, political, environmental, human health and economic implications of E-waste and aid to the establishment of a sustainable E-waste management system.
The theoretical framework underlying this work uses elements that stem from “Stakeholder Concept.” According to various literatures, the word “stakeholder” originates from the seventeenth century, where it was used to describe a third party entrusted with the stakes of a bet. Although the business leaders were thinking and expressing the stakeholder concept long before the early 1960s, it was during the mid-1980 that the concept of stakeholder approach truly started evolving. One of the important points in this movement was the publication of Richard Edward Freeman who is called the “father of the stakeholder concept” (Fontaine, Haarman & Schmid, 2006). He is generally credited with popularizing the stakeholder concept. Many recent definitions of stakeholders build on Freeman’s (1984) seminal work on stakeholder theory that distinguished between those who affect or are affected by a decision or action (Reed et al., 2009). Public participation is becoming increasingly embedded in national and international environmental policy, as decision-makers recognize the need to understand who is affected by the decisions and actions they take, and who has the power to influence their outcome, that is, the stakeholders (Reed et al., 2009).
In the development of the concept of integrated E-waste management in India, “stakeholder theory” has the potential to play an important role. For the purpose of the study, we are considering the definition of stakeholder given by Coase (1960). Having worked on environmental pollution, Coase (1960) defined stakeholders simply in the form of polluters and victims. Polluters could affect change by creating pollution and the victims were those who were affected by the change in the form of pollution. Victims could be affected directly or indirectly, leading to the recognition of a wide range of stakeholders (Reed et al., 2009). Considering E-waste, it is a kind of solid waste pollution. Here, producers and consumers of electrical and electronic appliances are the “polluters” and people working in the recycling units with detrimental environmental and health consequences are the “victims” of E-waste pollution. Sometimes, consumers could form a part of the victims due to improper management of E-waste. Stakeholders can be of any form, size, and capacity. They can be individuals, organizations, or unorganized groups.
An attempt has been made in Figure 1 to depict the involvement of different stakeholders in the E-waste flow in India. All the stakeholders represented in Figure 1 have certain role in the generation and management of E-waste in the country. While producers/manufacturers, retailers, individual households, businesses, government and private establishments, and educational institutes are more prominent in the “generation” of E-waste, others such as scrap dealers, dissemblers, smelters, and recyclers play imperative role in the “management” practices of E-waste. Nevertheless, along the flow, certain amount of E-waste is generated and managed by the stakeholders.
Methodology
Generation and management of E-waste along with the related stakeholders are evaluated by using secondary data sources such as journal and newspaper articles, books and Internet resources. Issues and stakeholders related to both informal and formal E-waste management sectors are considered. Moreover, an empirical study was conducted in the city of Bangalore, India and the state of Assam, India from stakeholders’ perspective, focusing on four different stakeholders, namely IT sector, public sector establishments (such as banks and industries), educational institutes, and households because all these stakeholders are listed by the Indian Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF, 2008) as major contributors to the problem of E-waste in India. Semi-structured interviews were carried out with these stakeholders. Semi-structured interviews were selected to collect data because it provides the interviewer flexibility to add, modify, and omit questions during the time of the interview. The estimation of generation of E-waste is done according to the United Nations Environment Programme’s (UNEP) Inventory Assessment Manual on E-waste (Volume I) (2007). As described in the manual, the generation of E-waste or WEEE is defined by the consumption of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) as both of them are directly proportional.
Source: Borthakur (2012).
Therefore, input = output, where input (t) = mass/number of pieces of equipment bought by the customer (t); output (t) = WEEE/E-waste generated (t); and t = time.
E-waste Management Scenario in India and Related Stakeholders
Over the past two decades, the global market of EEE continues to grow exponentially, while the lifespan of those products becomes shorter and shorter (Needhidasan, Samuel & Chidambaram, 2014). India, today, is burdened with the enormous volume of E-waste, generated domestically or imported illegally. The constant introduction of new and innovative designs, aesthetic looks, smart functions, and technology during the last 20 years along with the changing lifestyles, higher disposable income, and greater affordability among people are fueling such growth. The lifespan of many electronic goods has been substantially shortened due to advancements in electronics, attractive consumer designs, and marketing and compatibility issues (Kiddee, Naidu & Wong, 2013). For example, the average lifespan of a new computer has decreased from 4.5 years in 1992 to an estimated 2 years in 2005 and is further decreasing (Widmer et al., 2005). However, in India, a pervasive view of E-waste as a commodity causes a reluctance to dispose of E-waste immediately (S. Sinha, 2008). Thus, E-waste items are subjected to second-hand or even third-hand users in the country. Mostly, the electronic junks lie unattended in houses, offices, warehouses, etc., and normally mixed with household wastes, which are finally disposed off at landfills (S. Sinha, 2008). Thus, large volume of E-waste is not recycled and receives no special treatment.
The relatively high cost for E-waste disposal in developed countries has driven recycling operations to developing countries such as China, India, and Pakistan (Zhang, Schnoor & Zeng, 2012). Recycling is a very lucrative business in India and dominated with informal actors (Manomaivibool, 2009). Low labor cost and strong demand for raw materials in the developing world have encouraged small operators, without proper pollution control equipment and technology, to recover valuable materials from E-waste, further stimulating the transboundary flow of E-waste (Zhang, Schnoor & Zeng, 2012). The E-waste recycling sector in many parts of Asia remains largely unregulated (Greenpeace, 2005) and India is no exception to it. E-waste recycling sector in the country could be divided into non-formal or informal and formal sectors with 95 percent of the E-waste in India being recycled in non-formal sector and 5 percent of the E-waste volume handled by formal unit (Chatterjee, 2012).
Moreover, India lacks a comprehensive regulation dealing with E-waste management (Skinner et al., 2010). E-waste policy development may require a more customized approach where, instead of addressing E-waste in isolation, it should be addressed as part of the national development agenda that integrates green economy assessment and strategic environmental assessment as part of national policy planning (Pariatamby & Victor, 2013).
Informal or Non-formal Sector and Its Stakeholders
India’s E-waste recycling industry is dominated by the so-called informal sector, where tens of thousands of people are estimated to make their living from material recovery (Liu et al., 2012). Informal recycling is a new and expanding low-cost recycling practice in managing WEEE or E-waste (Chi et al., 2011). The uncontrolled recycling of E-waste by the so-called informal sector is the main concern in non-OECD countries such as India and China (Wath et al., 2010). Many facilities where E-waste is processed and materials are recovered for recycling are small, independent workshops and there are often few or no real controls over the materials processed in these facilities or their emissions and discharges (Liu et al., 2012). The dominance of the informal sector can be explained by the toxic, yet efficient methods used in recycling (Skinner et al., 2010). Currently, in India, there are over 2,000 units engaged in non-formal sector for E-waste recycling (Chatterjee, 2012). Such non-formal units of E-waste recyclers are distributed almost all over India especially in states such as in Delhi, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal. Thus, based on the existing evidences, informal recycling is the most pressing environmental issue associated with the E-waste (Williams et al., 2008).
Stakeholders in the informal sector in India include IT industries, public and private sector establishments, hospitals, research and educational institutes, business and corporate houses, individual households, etc., which are chiefly responsible for the generation of the E-waste. E-waste generated by them is passed to another set of stakeholders in the form of kawaries (ragpickers), scrap dealers, wholesalers, recyclers, and dismantlers for management purpose who primarily carry out major operations such as collection, segregation, dissembling, and dismantling. In the recycling sector, the literature shows that informal waste recycling is carried out by poor and marginalized social groups who resort to scavenging and waste picking for income and survival (Chi et al., 2011).
The informal sectors are often skilled in identifying wastes with potential value and also explore the methodology to recover the valuables. They also have excellent networking and communication to reach out for the resources (Raghupathy & Chaturvedi, 2013). There are well-established networks of waste collectors/dealers, dismantlers, and recyclers in India, most of which belong to the informal sector. Each such unit operates in a small scale, as for example in the form of door-to-door waste collectors/dealers, known locally as “kawariwalas” (Manomaivibool, 2009). Thus, they play an important role in proper recycling of a large quantum (~ >95 percent by weight) of E-waste in reuse chain (Chatterjee & Kumar, 2009). Non-formal units generally follow the steps such as collection of the E-waste from the rag pickers, disassembling of the products for their useable parts, components, modules, which are having resell value. The rest of the material is chemically treated to recover precious metals causing leaching of hazardous substances to the air, soil, and water. Such recycling method has low efficiency and recovery is carried out only for valuable metals such as gold, silver, aluminum, and copper and other materials such as tantalum, cadmium, zinc, and palladium could not be recovered. Non-formal units have lack of knowledge of the processes of smelting/reprocessing, and therefore, prefer to sell such scrap. Nevertheless, the activities presently operating in the informal sector need to be upgraded to provide a support system for the integrated facility. This would enable to bring the non-formal sector in the main stream of the activity and facilitate to ensure environmental compliances (MoEF, 2008).
Formal Sector and Its Stakeholders
The authorized E-waste recycling facilities in India capture only 3 percent of total E-waste generated; the rest makes its way to informal recycling yards in major cities such as Delhi, Mumbai, and Bangalore (Greenpeace, 2008), thus subjected to a shortage of sufficient input materials. Formalization is perceived here as an exchange transaction between the government and enterprises (Manomaivibool, 2009). Table 1 illustrates the recycling units registered with Ministry of Environment and Forest/Central Pollution Control Board, India as recyclers/reprocessors having environmentally sound management facilities.
The stakeholders in the formal sector mostly include producers of EEEs who run service centers and/or take-back schemes in India (e.g., Hewlett-Packard and Nokia), and the companies – institutional users of EEE – who have an environmental management system (EMS) or environmental policies on the disposal of E-waste (e.g., IT giants such as Tata Technology Limited and Tech Mahindra).
Formal Recyclers in India
Source: CPCB (2010).
Economic, Social, Environmental, and Human Health Implications of E-waste in India
E-waste recycling may potentially be an attractive business, because metals contained in E-waste are more abundant than those in ores (Zhang, Schnoor & Zeng, 2012). Moreover, owing to the high demand for second-hand EEEs and low initial investment required for starting a collection, dismantling, sorting, or a recovery facility (D. Sinha, 2004), E-waste recycling business has become very attractive for small entrepreneurs, especially in countries like China and India. For instance, India’s rapidly growing electronic manufacturing sector demands large amounts of materials and components. Recycled materials are hence favorable and have become a profit-generating driver for manufacturers (Zhang, Schnoor & Zeng, 2012).
E-waste recycling units in India have great potential for generating employment. In the country, recovering reusable machines, components, and materials from discarded WEEE act as a source of income for poor people (Wath et al., 2010). As collection, dismantling, sorting-segregation, and recovery of E-waste are mostly done manually, in India this business provides significant employment opportunities (Baud et al., 2001) in several cities, especially to the urban and illiterate poor. It has been estimated that Delhi alone employs 25,000 workers in informal scrap yards handling about 10,000–20,000 tons of E-waste annually (Dwivedy & Mittal, 2012). Thus, the E-waste recycling sector opens the job opportunities and source of income, which also needs to be understood and addressed while framing the E-waste management system for India (Wath et al., 2010). Further, while the European models have a well-developed system of visible and invisible fees for the recycling of WEEE, in India the consumers in contrast are paid an amount of money for their resource (Dwivedy & Mittal, 2012).
E-waste recycling businesses in India pose serious threats to the worker’s health and the environment. Nnorom and Osibanjo (2008) argued that the crude “backyard” recycling processes for E-waste, currently taking place in China, India, and in some other countries in the Asia-Pacific axis, are usually carried out with no or very little personal protection equipment or pollution control measures. As stated by Tsydenova and Bengtsson (2011), rudimentary recycling techniques coupled with the amounts of E-waste processed have already resulted in adverse environmental and human health impacts in countries like China and India. In these countries, metals from the E-waste are dissolved in strong acid solutions and subsequently recovered from the solutions. A major problem in India is that as most of the people involved in the recycling business are illiterate and poor, they are totally ignorant about the threats to their health and the environment as a whole from E-waste recycling operations. Wath et al. (2010) conclude that the whole E-waste management system in India is labor intensive and most of the recycling and recovery operations are carried out using outdated technologies and processes, which may lead to release of uncontrolled emission of pollutants. The workers and local residents are exposed to the chemical pollutants through inhalation, dust ingestion, dermal exposure, and dietary intake. Unless action is accelerated to properly collect and recycle materials, many developing countries face the specter of mountains of hazardous E-waste, with serious consequences for the environment and public health (Liu et al., 2012).
Reuse and Recycling Techniques of E-waste in India
Recycling of metals extends the efficient use of minerals and metals, reduces pressure on environment, and results in major energy savings in comparison to primary production (Raghupathy & Chaturvedi, 2013). The recovery of E-waste for reuse or recycling conserves resources and feedstocks that supply steel, glass, plastics, and precious metals and avoids air and water pollution as well as greenhouse gas emissions associated with material production and manufacturing (Nnorom & Osibanjo, 2008). Electronic equipment that is no longer of use to the original purchaser may be reused, effectively extending its lifespan. Although E-waste recycling industry is a very young industry (Agarwal et al., 2005), it has experienced rapid growth in the last few years. Reuse is ultimately the source of some E-waste in many poor countries that accept donations of equipment considered obsolete in rich countries. Seventy percent of the E-waste processed or disposed of in India is believed to originate abroad, with Delhi as its primary destination (Sthiannopkao & Wong, 2013). Old yet functional electronic equipment is often shipped to developing countries by well-meaning donors in the West (Robinson, 2009). Destination countries for this waste often welcomed the hard currency paid by its senders (Sthiannopkao & Wong, 2013).
India has very lucrative second-hand markets for reusable products. There was already a strong scrap metal industry in existent in India, which, for many years, had reclaimed a wide variety of ferrous and non-ferrous metals, including steel, aluminum, copper, etc., from scrap, mainly from industries (D. Sinha, 2004). Repair, recondition and component reuse, and refurbishing shops are common features in the country (Manomaivibool, 2009). With the advent of the electronic age and as electrical and electronic appliances started becoming obsolete, the already established scrap metal industry absorbed this new waste stream to recover metals, which are then used as a feedstock to steel mills and non-ferrous smelters and refiners (Sinha-Khetriwal et al., 2005).
As the volume of E-waste grew, there was a certain degree of specialization, with some waste processors focusing only on E-waste. An interesting phenomenon in India is that unlike developed countries like Switzerland, where consumers pay a recycling fee, in India it is the waste collectors who pay consumers a genuine price for their obsolete appliances. Moreover, given the low level of initial investment required to start a collection, dismantling, sorting business, or recovery business, it has attracted many small entrepreneurs to join the industry (D. Sinha, 2004).
Wong et al. (2007) stated that the techniques used in recycling of E-waste in countries like India are often primitive, without the appropriate facilities to safeguard environmental and human health. The authors listed down some of the techniques used for E-waste recycling as:
Stripping of metals in open-pit acid baths to recover gold and other metals Removing electronic components from printed circuit boards by heating over a grill using honeycombed coal blocks (coal mixed with river sediment which is contaminated) as fuel Chipping and melting plastics without proper ventilation Burning cables for recovering metals and also burning unwanted materials in open air Disposing unsalvageable materials in the fields and riverbanks Toner sweeping Dismantling electronic equipment Selling computer monitor yokes to copper recovery operations
Wath et al. (2010) listed down some of the major requirements and considerations for developing sound E-waste management system. These include:
Special logistic requirements for collecting the E-waste from the source of its generation or origin and transporting to the site of final disposal and/or treatment/recycling/recovery/reuse. E-waste contains many hazardous substances which are extremely dangerous to human health and environment, and therefore, disposal requires special treatment to minimize impacts in environment. E-waste is a rich source of metals such as gold, silver, and copper, which can be recovered and recycled/reused into the production cycle.
An Overview of Different Stakeholders in the Indian E-waste Management System
The E-waste management system in India consists of sets of diverse stakeholders who are significant right from the production of EEEs to the final disposal of WEEE or E-waste. The stakeholders in India could be divided into the following four categories (Borthakur, 2012):
The First Batch of Stakeholders The Second Batch of Stakeholders The Third Batch of Stakeholders Others
The First Batch of Stakeholders
The first level marks the actual entry of the new EEEs, raw materials, components, assemblies, and sub-assemblies in India either in the form of production/manufacturing, by the producers and manufacturers who are located in India, or in the form of its import from the foreign countries by the importers (Wath et al., 2010). Thus, they are the generators of EEEs. As stakeholders such as assemblers, distributors, retailers, and raw material suppliers are not the real user of these EEE items and raw materials, they are considered as the stakeholders only of the EEE generation, rather than of the WEEE generations (Wath et al., 2010).
Manufacturers/importers
In India, the manufacturers responsible for introducing new EEEs in the market hardly bear any responsibility of their products once they become obsolete. Tall claims on the part of some manufacturers toward practicing EPRs or carrying out take-back services are largely inconsequential in Indian context. For instance, a study carried out by Greenpeace (2008) reveals that global giants having extremely high market share in India such as Apple, Microsoft, Panasonic, PCS Technology, Philips, Sharp, Sony, Sony Ericsson, and Toshiba have no take-back services in India. These companies indirectly foster the growth of the informal recycling by failing to provide easy and free take-back service to ensure responsible recycling (Greenpeace, 2008).
While some manufacturers, like Hewlett-Packard (HP), are starting to offer collection programs, these are limited for the large corporate clients who generate reasonable volume (D. Sinha, 2004). Companies providing take-back services in India include Acer, Dell, HCL, HP, Lenovo, LG Electronics, Motorola, Nokia, WIPRO, Samsung, and Zenith (Greenpeace, 2008). Since global manufacturers often have production facilities in India, they themselves are also the substantial contributors to the E-waste stream. Most of the times, they dispose their waste, either through a tendering process or via the informal recycling sector. One encouraging fact is that despite the absence of any legal binding requirements, Indian brands such as HCL and WIPRO are offering voluntary take-back and recycling service to their customers. This is a positive development from the side of EEE manufacturers.
Assemblers
Assemblers are the stakeholders responsible for assembling different parts of EEEs. For instance, role of the assemblers are the most significant in the case of personal computers (PCs) where they purchase the local made or branded components, assemblies and sub-assemblies from the raw materials manufacturers and suppliers, assemble them and directly sell them to the consumers. In several public–private sector establishments, educational institutes, households, etc., in India, such assembled PCs are widely in operation as usually the price of such products is cheaper as compared to their branded counterparts. As Indian EEE market is cost sensitive, such assemblers provide the Indian customers an opportunity to own a first-hand EEEs with less cost (Borthakur, 2012).
Retailers
The retailing industry in India is still in its infancy and is dominated by individual proprietary shops in contrast to the large formal retail chains in developed countries (D. Sinha, 2004). The retailers currently only play an infrequent and arbitrary role in the collection of E-waste, which is limited only to a few products with high resale values (D. Sinha, 2004). This is mainly in the form of attractive exchange offers and buy-back policies which, especially during the festive seasons, attract attention in major Indian cities with people exchanging their older goods with new ones in relatively less expenses (Borthakur, 2012). Thus, the gradual shifts from desktop to laptop computers and CRT to LCD screen televisions are prominent phenomenon in India.
Raw material producers
The recycling and secondary metal production conserves natural resources, the process is shorter, requires less energy, and there is substantial reduction in the waste destined for disposal (Raghupathy & Chaturvedi, 2013). India has a large mining sector and industrial smelters for various metals who buy scrap from traders and recyclers of E-waste (D. Sinha, 2004). It is also proven that the percentage recovery of metals from the secondary sources is higher than the primary production (Raghupathy & Chaturvedi, 2013). The recycler/dismantler dismantles E-waste and the readily reusable/recyclable materials such as plastic, glass, cable-wires and components are resold back to raw material supplier for reuse (D. Sinha, 2004), although the involvement of such raw material producers influencing the collection and sorting of E-waste is still insignificant in the country. Only a small fraction of E-waste material such as iron goes to steel mills.
The Second Batch of Stakeholders
The second batch of the stakeholders includes E-waste generators in the form of consumers of E-waste. The domestic as well as official consumers are the real users of EEEs, who purchases the generated new EEEs from the stakeholders of first batch in order to serve their present need. Often in case of the PCs, TVs, etc., the consumers discard their old items for the sake of the latest version, features, and options to meet their present need (Wath et al., 2010). In India, the EEEs may find more than one user, as the first user may resell or give the used EEEs to their relative or friend for further use in case of domestic consumer. Practices may also be found of donating the used EEEs by the official consumers to the economically weak social institutes such as charitable schools, hostels, orphanage, hospitals and village societies (Wath et al., 2010).
Consumers
EEEs have penetrated every walk of our lives and thus consumers of EEEs are diverse and widespread, dispersed to the remotest parts of the world. Nearly every sector, nowadays, ranging from IT industries, public and private sector establishments, hospitals, research and educational institutes, households, business and corporate offices, etc., depend intensely on EEEs and thus they are the E-waste generators. In the present context in India, consumers do not pay for their end-of-life electronic appliances. Unlike some of the developed countries, it is the waste collector who pays a reasonable price to the consumers for their obsolete EEEs. E-waste is frequently auctioned in large public and private sector establishments. Unaware of the methods of disposal, many households and other institutes dispose their E-waste with regular household wastes. Some others lie unattended in several establishments for ages because of lack of knowledge about their proper management. A pervasive view of E-waste as a commodity causes a reluctance to dispose of it immediately (S. Sinha, 2008) and hence it finds second or even third-hand users in India. Instead of selling obsolete E-waste into the scrap market, the preferred practice is to get it exchanged from retailers while purchasing a new EEE or pass it on to relatives or friends (UNEP, 2007). Thus, it has been observed that the average life of consumer durables in India is much longer than in developed countries. Here, consumers play an important role in keeping the EEE out of the waste stream for a longer period of time, by preferring to repair or hand-down the appliance to various relatives, friends, or employees, than dispose it outright.
While, there is a positive movement toward eco-friendly EEEs in India, it is still to gain momentum as such products are usually expensive and beyond affordability of several people. For instance, energy-stared products though reflect more environmental compliance, yet at the same time these products are highly expensive.
The Third Batch of Stakeholders
This group of stakeholders are those responsible for collection, segregation, dismantling, treatment, and disposal of E-waste. The stakeholders involved in this batch are mostly unorganized.
Kawaries and scrap dealers
Most of the E-waste in India is disposed of either through auction or sold to the scrap dealers (kawariwalas) which in turn are sold to the recyclers in the informal sector (Raghupathy & Chaturvedi, 2013). In the country, collection of E-waste is mostly done by the unorganized sector of scrap dealers/traders, called as “kawariwala” in local language, who purchases E-waste along with the other recyclable waste or scrap such as old news-papers, books, cardboards, plastics, ferrous-tin material items and glass bottles from the consumer at a specific cost and sells it through small traders to the wholesaler/bigger trader who segregates and sorts out different types of waste material components and ultimately sells it to the recycler/dismantler and disposers for reprocessing (Wath et al., 2010). Thus, kawariwalas, as small and large scrap dealers, play significant role in E-waste management in India, and along with recyclers they are the heart of the E-waste management. Collectors in the form of kawariwalas collect the E-waste from the consumers and pass them to the recyclers. The collectors and recyclers, and a host of intermediaries, work together on the basis of informal business contracts (D. Sinha, 2004). Thus in India, E-waste is one of the fractions of the total recyclable waste or scrap, which are been purchased by the kawariwala from various consumers such as individual houses, offices, institutions, government, commercial, and industrial establishments (Wath et al., 2010).
Recyclers
Informal recycling is a new yet expanding low-cost recycling practice toward managing E-waste and occurs in many developing countries where current gaps in environmental management, high demand for second-hand electronic appliances, and the norm of selling E-waste to individual collectors encourage the growth of a strong informal recycling sector (Chi et al., 2011). The recycling practices operating in India are exceedingly detrimental and pose serious threats to human health and environment. It is not known how many people are involved or how widespread the network of collectors and recyclers is as data collection on this sector is particularly difficult in the absence of a controlling or monitoring mechanism (D. Sinha, 2004). However, E-waste literatures reveal significant involvement of urban poor, including women and children, in recycling units. Today, nearly 20,000–25,000 unskilled workers are involved in unorganized sector alone in Delhi (Chatterjee, 2012).
Disposers
In the E-waste recycling regions, the improvement of disposal systems is the most cost-effective method to reach the objectives of solid waste management (Liu et al., 2009). The main disposal options of E-waste available in India are landfilling and incineration (MoEF, 2008), although leaching of toxins into the soil and ground water in the poorly lined landfill is a major cause of concern in the most of the municipal landfill sites. Incineration has advantage over landfilling in reduction of waste volume and the utilization of the energy content of combustible materials. However, it may lead to significant air and soil pollution as the majority of the waste is incinerated in the open or accumulated in illegal dumps. Similarly, landfills in most of the Indian cities are not well equipped to handle hazardous waste like E-waste, and thus, have the potential for air, water, and soil pollution. According to the MoEF (2008), at present it is not possible to quantify environmental impacts from E-waste in landfills for the following reasons:
Landfills contain mixtures of various waste streams; Emission of pollutants from landfills can be delayed for many years; According to climatic conditions and technologies applied in landfills (e.g., leachate collection and treatment, impermeable bottom layers, gas collection), data on the concentration of substances in leachate and landfill gas from municipal waste landfill sites differ.
Other Stakeholders
Government
Most of the hazardous and non-hazardous materials found in the E-waste are covered under the purview of “The Hazardous Wastes (Management and Handling) Amendment Rules, 2003” and “Municipal Solid Waste Management Rules, 2004.” “The E-waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 2011” is a recent initiative and the only attempt in India meant solely for addressing the issues related to E-waste in the country. However, Wath et al. (2010) argue that many aspects and issues such as social and economical implication, positive and negative drivers of the current E-waste Indian scenario are not addressed in the E-waste rules, 2011. Moreover, local governments of major Indian cities, who are responsible for the collection and disposal of municipal solid waste, till date, are inefficient in the collection or disposal of E-waste in an eco-friendly manner. Ensuring environmentally responsible collection, treatment, and disposal by government is essential for sustainable E-waste management strategies.
NGOs
Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) such as Greenpeace, Toxics Link and Saahas are vocal about unacceptability of current E-waste management practices, especially in the context of developing countries such as China and India. Moreover, the illegal import of E-waste is a major focus area for these NGOs. These NGOs are indispensable in carrying out studies related to all major aspects of E-waste, creating public awareness campaigns, protesting against illegal management strategies such as import and providing policy suggestions in several countries. Thus, these proactive NGOs contribute significantly toward the E-waste scenario both globally and locally.
The Case Study
The stakeholder’s involvement in the E-waste scenario is a complex phenomenon. As stated earlier, in the whole process of generation of E-waste to its recycling and final disposal, a number of stakeholders are involved. In order to evaluate the involvement of stakeholders in the process of E-waste (with respect to “computer waste”) generation and management, an empirical study was conducted in a major IT company in the city of Bangalore, India along with representatives of public sector establishments, educational institutes, and households at two districts (Dibrugarh and Tinsukia) in the state of Assam, India.
There are several reasons why these two places are considered for the purpose of the study. Bangalore is known as the Silicon Valley of India because of its preeminent position as the nation’s leading IT employer and exporter (Ha et al., 2009). An estimated 30,000 to 40,000 computers become obsolete every year from the IT industry in Bangalore alone (Needhidasan, Samuel & Chidambaram, 2014). Home to more than 1,200 foreign and domestic technology firms, Bangalore figures prominently in the danger list of cities faced with an E-waste hazard. As much as 1,000 tons of plastics, 300 tons of lead, 0.23 ton of mercury, 43 tons of nickel, and 350 tons of copper are annually generated in Bangalore (Needhidasan, Samuel & Chidambaram, 2014). As IT industries are the most prominent generators of E-waste (with the introduction of new and modified version of software every few months, they are forced to frequently replace their older electronics), it is important to evaluate the disposal behavior of these companies in order to have a view of the current management strategies opted by them. Moreover, Bangalore is the capital of Karnataka state in southern India and is the third most populous city in the country (Ha et al., 2009). Thus, as a rapidly emerging city, it has a significant user base of EEEs. The state of Assam was selected in order to evaluate the status of E-waste in the educational institutes and public sector establishments along with households. It is because of the fact that the state houses some of the leading public sector establishments in the country in the form of Oil India Limited and Indian Oil Corporation. As the studies on E-waste is concentrated to only a few Indian cities, it is important to address the growing concerns of the same in emerging states such as Assam. No studies ever have addressed the issues of E-waste in the state. Table 2 illustrates the stakeholders considered for conducting the case study regarding the generation and management of E-waste in India.
Stakeholders Considered for the Case Study
Results and Discussions
Information technology sector: Hewlett Packard (HP), Bangalore
HP is known to be one of the most environmentally sentient companies with its diverse strategies aimed toward safeguarding the environment. In the various initiatives of the company providing IT services in Bangalore, almost 99 percent employees are provided with PCs. Thus, if 10,000 employees are currently working at the company, the number of PCs in operation is 9,900. Thus, according to the UNEP’s (2007) model described in the “methodology” section of this article, 9,900 units of PCs are the potential E-waste presently functioning at the company. After a specific period of time (t), all these PCs will become obsolete, and eventually, contribute to the E-waste stream. The average life of PCs in the company is 3–4 years.
HP has a range of services for product recovery, aiming to continually increase the volumes of product diverted from landfill. The company realizes that eventually all IT equipment reaches the end of its useful life and recycling services are then essential for responsible end-of-life management. As per the information gathered, HP offers recycling services in 53 countries or territories worldwide, including India. HP ensures that the customers’ data security is protected for all products it takes back, whether by trade-in or through their recycling services.
HP accepts the principle that all manufacturers share, with governments and customers, the responsibility for treating electronic products in an environmentally responsible manner at the end of their useful life. It believes that it is the responsibility of consumers to discard their E-waste appropriately, the responsibility of government to provide adequate collection/drop off facilities for end-of-life products, and the responsibility of manufacturers to manage the treatment and recycling of their products. Thus, HP follows the model of shared responsibility. Within this model of shared responsibility, manufacturers must provide for the recycling of their products and have an option to do this collectively or individually.
HP supports the concept of individual producer responsibility (IPR) or extended producer responsibility (EPR) as a part of their E-waste legislation and policy, an approach that makes producers responsible for recycling of their own products once they have been collected. HP is actively engaged with governments of various countries to develop appropriate legislation for E-waste management. For instance, HP supported an IPR approach in the development of the European Union’s Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive. Likewise, it takes part in the formulation of E-waste policies as well as legislations in countries in North America and Asia. HP also takes back products as part of trade-in agreements and other commercial activities. The equipment is refurbished or remanufactured appropriately and repackaged and resold. HP offers remarketed products for most HP product lines, and they follow strict processes to protect user data and to meet environmental requirements.
HP is committed to transparent reporting of product recovery. It believes that the most meaningful measure to control E-waste is to increase the total volume of equipment diverted from landfills through reuse and recycling. It identifies reuse and recycling volumes separately. HP works with a network of vendors to process, resell, and recycle products returned to HP in many countries. Products returned to HP that are not suitable for reuse enter their recycling programs along with equipment returned directly through recycling services. Consumer recycling services vary from country to country, depending partly on local regulations. HP makes arrangements with commercial customers depending on the equipment involved and the specific circumstances.
In 2008, HP expanded their existing take-back programs in several countries, including China, Costa Rica, and India. In India, HP donated more than 3,500 HP computers, reclaimed by the take-back program, to over 750 schools. HP is also working with several local NGOs to develop a blueprint for sustainable E-waste management in conjunction with existing collectors and recyclers.
HP is known internationally as an environmentally conscious company. Therefore, as a part of the introduction program and as a part of various other programs by the company, the employees are made aware on the issues related to E-waste and how the company is trying to overcome the problems related to the same.
Public sector establishments, educational institutes, and households
Generation of E-waste is exponentially increasing at various public sector establishments, educational institutes and households in India. Nevertheless, rudimentary management practices are ubiquitous among these stakeholders. Table 3 shows the generation and management of E-waste at public sector establishments, educational institutes and households in the state of Assam, India.
Generation and Management at Public Sector Establishments, Educational Institutes, and Households
Source: Author’s own data.
Although there is an ascendant trend in the use of electrical and electronic goods and gadgets in public sector establishments, educational institutes, and at the household level, these stakeholders are observed to be rather unaware and ignorant toward the issues of E-waste. For instance, with increasing dependence on Internet, mobile, and core banking facilities, the amount of EEEs in use by both banking professionals and customers has been rising rapidly. Similarly, with the government of Assam’s decision to award desktop or laptop computers to meritorious students who scores above 50 percent marks in their 10th standard examination, computers at the household level have observed a sharp increase during the last few years. According to a few local newspapers, more than 1.11 lakh such computers have been distributed since the inception of the award in 2005. With IT education attracting a lot of students and dependence of the whole education system on IT equipments, there is an increasing volume of EEEs in educational institutes too. However, these stakeholders are at a state of perplexity regarding their obsolete electronics. With all the electronics eventually becoming obsolete after a specific time period, the accurate disposal methods should be conveyed to the people by the local authorities. However, no such step was observed to be taken by the state or the local government in order to address the issues of E-waste in the state.
Conclusions
Irrespective of developed or developing, E-waste is a major concern for almost all the countries across the globe today. While developed countries are burdened with increasing volume of domestically generated E-waste resulting from rapidly emerging dependence on electronic goods and gadgets, developing countries are forced with illegal import in addition to the internally generated E-waste. The resulting emergence and dominance of informal recycling units in countries like India is a major cause of concern as it involves practices (such as acid-bathing to extract valuable and reusable components from E-waste) exceedingly hazardous to both human health and environment. Involvement of women and children in such recycling activities further amplify the problem of E-waste recycling in the country. However, several studies conducted in India reveal that the informal sector plays a key role in recycling activities in the country, and thus, it is largely essential to involve the stakeholders of the informal sector in the sustainable and planned E-waste management activities to make the system economically viable, rather than eliminating them. The informal sector provides cheap manual labor and also facilitates in providing employment for the urban poor. As most of the E-waste in India is channelized to informal sector, the formal sector is facing problem of not having sufficient input materials. Hence, the evolution of formal sector is still a leisurely process in the country. Moreover, some policy interventions are also essential as the current policy-level initiatives related to E-waste in India are inadequate to address the issue. For instance, the IT revolution started in India way back in early 1990s, whereas a proper policy related to E-waste was being introduced almost after 20 years, in 2011, in the form of the “E-waste (management and handling) Rules, 2011.” It is essential to consider different policy-level initiatives, both in terms of legislations and other market-based policy initiatives such as EPR, Take-back Policies, Advanced Disposal Fee, Tax Credit, Deposit-Refund System and Pay-As-You-Throw in order to address the issues related to E-waste in India. While identifying the key stakeholders and their disposal behavior, both with secondary literature and in the case study, it has been observed that people are highly perplexed on the future of their obsolete EEEs. One interesting fact is that whether it is the IT capital of India, Bangalore or relatively smaller towns like Tinsukia and Dibrugarh, the disposal behavior and awareness echelon at the household level is almost of the same order. In both the places, people discard their end-of-life electronic appliances with regular municipal household solid waste. The present study shows that it is imperative to identify the diverse set of stakeholders along the E-waste generation and management chain. A sustainable E-waste management practice in the country is only possible by making these stakeholders responsive, aware, and sensitive toward the global E-waste problem by identifying and assigning their respective roles and responsibilities.