6 steps towards responsible E-waste disposal

E-waste : “That waste comes from discarded computers, cell-phones, DVD players, toasters, refrigerators, clock radios, medical devices— most everything powered by electricity. Every engineer in the room was now being required to rethink the ingredients that enable their complex networks of circuits and chips to work. The Europeans have banned six of those substances —mercury, cadmium, lead, chromium, and two chemical flame retardants called polybrominated biphenyl flame retardants—from all electrically powered devices." Mark Schapiro, Exposed: The Toxic Chemistry of Everyday Products and What's at Stake for American Power.

E-waste is becoming a burning issue due to consumerism. E-waste inventory based on the obsolescence rate and installed base in India for the year 2005 has been estimated to be 146180 tonnes. This is expected to exceed 8L tonnes by 2012. On top of that India actually imports 50,0000 tonnes of E-waste every year. Out of the total E-waste that is recycled (11%), only 5%-7% undergoes safe recycling through formal sector.  Primary reason unsafe recycling is lack of awareness and no easy channel for reverse logistics. Every bit of the remaining waste ends up in ground or water without treatment or incinerated to generate toxic fumes or in the local landfill. This paper is our sincere effort to offer a solution to this chronic situation.

There is an exponential growth of E waste in rapidly developing countries like India and China. Therefore bulk consumers like large organisations must streamline its processes for responsible E-waste management: I am sharing with you the 6 easy steps for responsible recycling of E-waste:

1.       Whose is responsible for E-waste within the organisation?

Identifying departments which will be responsible is very important. Typically within large corporates E-waste like computers monitors and telecommunication will be generated and will come under the IT department’s responsibility. These assets will be tagged and inventory available with IT department. Other types of electrical and universal wastes like fans, coffee machines, and printer cartridges could come under the jurisdiction of facilities. Universal wastes like CFL and batteries would also come under the jurisdiction of facilities. It is necessary to identify the departments who will deal with E-waste. As in the example shared there may be more than one department responsible for different types of E-waste. Clear responsibilities with respect to E-waste disposal assigned to each department. Person with defined roles and responsibilities must be identified for each department.

2.       What do we track?

Understanding the types of E-waste that the organization will generate is the key to the inventory. Inventory is a list of all the items that could be classified as E-waste. Inventory will have information of source of waste, the type of waste and the quantity of waste. Inventory of E-waste and tracking from purchase – use – disposal is vital step for managing E-waste. Organizations departments and business enable functions may sometimes be confused what is classified under E-waste. Therefore all the responsible departments will need to have a complete list of all types of e-waste product generated in the organization. Suitable software could ensure a complete tracking of the material and identification of material which reaches its end of life. This software will help in maintaining the status of each item. Items which are bonded should be identified through pasting of an appropriate sticker with relevant details in terms of date and number.

3.       Where do we store the E-waste?

A suitable storage space is required which is sufficiently large to store all the e-waste safely. Storage norms are required for each category of e-waste. For example CFLs and fluorescent lamps which are fragile should be safely placed in drums or put in the original packing. Likewise a dedicated bin is required for printer cartridges. This storage space should be separate from space allocated for other scrap including old chairs and other metal scrap

4.       What permissions are to be sought? Registration with the Local Pollution Control Board.

Companies who have independent facilities and are registered under the Air and Water Act have to apply to the Pollution Control Board(PCB) for a form 1 registration which allows them to store hazardous waste (e-waste). Other companies do not need to register under form 1. Typically individual companies who are part of Tech-Park do not need such a registration since the Tech Park would have already obtained the relevant registration completed.

5.       How to dispose? Safe disposal through authorized recycler

The company must identify a suitable e-waste recycler who is authorized to recycle e-waste. The organization must enter into a MOU with this recycler. Companies located in a tech-park with the common collection center can use this facility to dispose their non bonded e-waste products.

i.                     Alternative options available for safe disposal and some options such as donation of equipment (bonded and non-bonded) to charitable institutions and schools could be considered. This is a good way in which equipment can first be reused before recycling. However, companies must ensure that this equipment comes back into the clean e-waste channel for safe recycling.

ii.                   Remanufacturing of Printer Cartridges: Used printer cartridges can be handed over to recyclingcartridge.org for remanufacturing. This ensures that the entire shell of the cartridge which is made up of plastic is used again instead of being crushed and recycled.

6.       Documentation

The e-waste collected is documented through a form 9 which will be handed over to the company by the recycler. A copy of this document is then also handed over by the recycler to the Pollution Control Board

The referred forms and list of all types of E-waste as categorised by government of India are available in the E-waste management rules. List of registered recyclers are available at the CPCB website.

For successful E-waste management it is necessary that each organization not just understands what types of wastes it generates but also streamlines the processes for its safe disposal or reuse or recycling. Hopefully these steps will nudge organizations to grapple with the challenge of responsible e-waste disposal.