Environmental Challenges 7 (2022) 100507

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Environmental Challenges
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/envc

Electronic waste: A critical assessment on the unimaginable growing

pollutant, legislations and environmental impacts
Ramachandran Rajesh, Dharmaraj Kanakadhurga, Natarajan Prabaharan∗
School of Electrical & Electronics Engineering, Department of EEE, SASTRA Deemed University, Thanjavur 613401, Tamilnadu, India

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Keywords: Electronic waste is an indirect and unimaginable waste which make adverse effects on the human, animals and
E-Waste environment by polluting the natural resources like air, soil and water. Accumulation and contamination of
Environmental impacts e-waste for a longer period may harshly affect the environmental resources. India and China are the largest
Policy
consumers of electronic gadgets at the same time they are responsible for an increase in the waste electrical and
Legal instruments
electronic equipment. Therefore, this review article mainly focuses on the detailed explanation of the e-waste
Health impacts
Pollution management system includes the recycling process and its effects in India. The uniqueness of this review article
lies in the discussion of legal instruments and awareness programs in India at various periods of time. Also, it
provides sufficient knowledge to the readers in various aspects of increasing e-waste and its controlling methods.
As a result, it gives adequate information for reducing the utilization of e-product in consumer-side and control
measures on the manufacturer-side. In addition to that, it will be helpful to the policymakers who are involving
in framing the future policy of e-waste in India.

1. Introduction from basic home appliances, computers, phones, battery and small in-
tegrated electronic parts that are used in transport, healthcare equip-
Quick advancement and cost reduction on electronic gadget made a ment and security systems. These products are required for this modern
drastic transformation among regular users to access the new electronic society people to make their work more comfortable and efficient. The
products and digital technology. The utilization of mobile phone and above said parameters are not alone to increase the e-waste, some of the
internet usage are drastically increasing in last ten years. According to additional parameters are also responsible for raising the e-waste which
the Digital 2020 report (Kemp, 2020), 5.15 billion mobile phone users is portrayed in Fig. 1. According to 2020 Global E-waste monitor report
and 4.57 billion internet users in globally as of July 2020. Around 60% (Forti et al., 2020), the production of e-waste in the year 2019 is around
of the world population are using the mobile phone and internet. From 53.6 million metric tons in which 17.4% were properly collected and
the report, it is evident that the mobile phone and internet users has been recycled then the remaining 82.6% were not accounted. The prediction
increased with 2.4% and 8% as compared with the previous year data on global e-waste is expected to be 74.7 million metric tons by the year
respectively (Kemp, 2020). This modern technology has a wide area of 2030. The global e-waste forecasting for upcoming years has been shown
applications which makes life more comfortable. This rapid expansion of in Fig. 2. The data for plotting the graph (Fig. 2) is collected from the
electronic products in worldwide could adversely affect the environment literature (Forti et al., 2020). Every year almost 50 million metric tons
by vast deposition of e-waste at the backdrop. Due to enhancement of of e-waste is produced in globally where the contribution is higher in
e-commerce, widespread and availability of e-product makes the global developed countries like Europe and America based on their per capita
pollution. generation of e-waste. At present, Asia produces enormous amount of
Electronic waste (E-waste) account to be the fastest growing solid e-waste nearly 24.9 million metric tons followed by America and Eu-
waste stream in the world (Perkins et al., 2014). E-waste can be collected rope. However, considering the parameter of per capita consumption,

Abbreviations: CFC, Chlorofluorocarbon; CFL, Compact Fluorescent Lamp; CRT, Cathode Ray Tube; DNA, Deoxyribonucleic acid; EPR, Extended Producer Respon-
sibility; EV, Electric Vehicle; E-waste, Electronic waste; FAMB, Fly Ash after Mechanical and Basic treatment; GHG, Greenhouse Gas; GPS, Global Positioning System;
GST, Goods and Services Tax; IT, Information Technology; LCD, Liquid Crystal Display; LED, Light Emitting Diode; MeitY, Ministry of Electronics and Information
Technology; MoEF, Ministry of Environment and Forest; MoEFCC, Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate Change; NCR, National Capital Region; PBDE, Poly-
brominated Diphenyl Ethers; PCB, Printed Circuit Board; PCDD, Polychlorinated Dibenzodioxins; PCDF, Polychlorinated Dibenzofurans; USD, United States Dollar;
WEEE, Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment; EIA, Environmental Impact Assessment.
∗
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: [email protected] (N. Prabaharan).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envc.2022.100507
Received 25 August 2021; Received in revised form 15 March 2022; Accepted 28 March 2022
2667-0100/© 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
R. Rajesh, D. Kanakadhurga and N. Prabaharan Environmental Challenges 7 (2022) 100507

Fig. 1. Major reasons for increasing the e-waste.

ers may not have the proper protective suits. Also, it affects the people
who are living in close proximity near landfills and incineration areas
(LARRDIS, 2011).
Due to high population and proportional use of electronic products,
countries like China and India suffers largely. Few articles related to
the e-waste management are already available in the literature (Chen
et al., 2018; Zeng et al., 2017a; Zeng and Li, 2021; Zeng et al., 2017b).
But none of the review articles has focussed on the updated legal instru-
ment and awareness program conducted in India. Therefore, this review
article mainly focuses on the detailed explanation of e-waste manage-
ment system includes recycling process and their effects in India. The
main objective of this review article lies on the discussion of legal in-
struments and awareness program in India at various period of time. It is
very difficult to predict the volume of e-waste for future years accurately
as it depends on the several factors. But the approximate forecasting can
be done by considering the amount of electrical and electronic products
usage in every year.
Section 2 provides detailed explanation for the contributors of e-
Fig. 2. Global forecasting of e-waste. waste in various aspects. E-waste does not harm the human and animals
directly. Due to the enormous amount of e-waste accumulation and con-
tamination for longer period may harshly affect the environment. So,
the Europe generates 16.2 kg per capita, America generates 13.3 kg per Section 3 explains the variation of biogeochemical cycles and it affects
capita and Asia produces 5.6 kg per capita. China has enforced e-waste of all living organisms in the universe. The biogeochemical cycles in eco-
regulation with 14 types of e-waste categorization. Also, China has re- logical system gets mostly affected due to improper landfill and inciner-
duced its import of WEEE in recent years (Zeng et al., 2016). Both Japan ation of e-waste. So, the various method of e-waste disposal methodol-
and South Korea has advanced e-waste regulations whereas the Japan ogy is explained in Section 4. Around the globe, India is one among the
is the first country to implement the Extended Producer Responsibility top five e-waste generating country. Therefore, Section 5 deals with the
(EPR). India having the own legislation for e-waste management but it e-waste scenario in India and its management practice. Section 6 pro-
generates nearly 2.4 kg per capita (Forti et al., 2020). vides the future suggestion for e-waste management in India and Finally
E-waste comprises of various material, small complex components ended with conclusion in Section 7.
and contains many noxious elements such as CFC, arsenic, barium, cad-
mium, cobalt, copper, lead, lithium, mercury, nickel, polychlorinated 2. Contributors of e-waste
biphenyls, selenium, silver, zinc and more. Recovering materials like
iron, aluminium, gold and copper can be collected from e-waste (Forti The e-waste is mainly consists of electronic based small & large
et al., 2020; Hsu et al., 2021). Many developed countries having the equipment, monitors & screens, temperature exchange equipment,
problem in e-waste separation due to its complex nature and recycling lamps and equipment used in IT & telecom. Table 1 shows the examples
of e-waste becomes more challenging due to drastically increasing the of each category regarding to the contribution of e-waste (Forti et al.,
WEEE. Even though many frameworks have been implemented by many 2018; 2020; Reena et al., 2011).
countries to manage the e-waste properly but most of the e-waste are As per the Global E-waste monitor 2020 report, the percentage of
ended up with landfills, incinerated, exported to the developing coun- e-waste is decreased by only 1% for screens and monitor category as
tries or disposed by informal workers (Ilankoon et al., 2018). E-waste compared with the available data in the year of 2014 whereas the other
has hazardous substances which may create an antagonistic effect on categories have been raised in percentage towards the contribution of e-
human health and environment if it is not handled by authorized per- waste (Forti et al., 2020). According to the manufacturing point of view,
sonnel with adequate infrastructure. Due to improper e-waste disposal, the creation of new electronic product regulates the double pollution to
the workers in unauthorized sector shall be affected because the work- the environment. Figure 3 shows the back to back pollution to the envi-

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R. Rajesh, D. Kanakadhurga and N. Prabaharan Environmental Challenges 7 (2022) 100507

Table 1
Contribution of e-waste based on the different categories.

Category Examples Contribution of e-waste in the year 2019

(million metric tons)

Small equipment Irons, Toasters, Luminaires, Radio sets, Microwave oven, 17.4
Ventilation equipment, Vacuum cleaners, Clocks and
Watches, Digital cameras, Electric kettles, Video cameras
Large equipment Large medical devices, Large monitoring and control 13.1
instruments, Photovoltaic panels, Cookers, Electric stoves,
Large computer mainframes, Large printing machines,
Washing machines, Clothes dryers, Dish washing
machines
Monitors and screen Televisions, LED/LCD, Monitors, Tablets, E-Book readers, 6.7
Laptops
Temperature exchange equipment Heat pumps, Freezers, Air-conditioners, Refrigerators 10.8
Lamps CFL, Fluorescent lamps, Pressure sodium lamps, Metal 0.9
halide lamps, LED lamps
Small IT and telecom equipment Mobile phones, Printers, Routers, Personal computers, 4.7
Telephones, GPS and navigation equipment

Fig. 3. Back to back pollution.

ronment based on the e-product to e-waste. First, to make the e-product (example: Integrated Circuit) for making the product is no longer
with the utilization of special metals like gold, cobalt and palladium that compatible with the recent developed software. On the other hand, LCD
can be collected through mining which requires more use of land, water television manufacture requires around 30% plastic, 34% iron, 22%
and energy (Parajuly et al., 2019). Furthermore, the processing of e- glass, 6% electronics, 5% aluminium, 2% copper and 1% others. Due to
products require variety of chemicals that may pollute the atmosphere the higher quantity of LCD manufacture, it creates the bad environmen-
directly by emitting the harmful gases. For example, flat panel liquid tal impression. Also, LCD contributes around half of the 300 kg of 𝐶𝑂2
crystal display requires the fluorinated greenhouse gas which has an emission per year which is estimated GHG emission for entire life cycle
atmospheric lifetime of 3000 years. It should be noted that this gas hav- of the same product (European Environment Agency, 2020). The usage
ing the potential to increase the global warming like 1000 times more of new product is increasing due to the technological advancement
than the 𝐶𝑂2 . Second, the utilization span of the e-products is reduced and lack of repairing services so that the consumers are indirectly con-
due to the technological advancement which makes current electronic tributed (lack of awareness of e-waste) to increase the e-waste which
gadget superseded (European Environment Agency, 2020). Due to the affects air, water and soil during the improper disposal and recycling
lack of repairing services for particular e-product, the consumers indi- process.
rectly encourage to buy the new products which makes more demand As per the Indian ministry of commerce & industry annual report,
on creating the particular e-product. From the above discussions, it is the electronic items imported for the financial year 2018-19 was around
clearly evident that the e-waste can be formed by manufacturing more 55475.52 million USD in India (Ministry of Commerce, 2020). Accord-
e-product as well as the usage of more e-product by the consumers. As ing to the report from the Associated Chambers of Commerce and In-
a result, it may affect the environment and creates the human health dustry of India in 2018, India generates almost 12.5 lakhs metric tons
hazards. Technological advancement is also necessary for this modern of e-waste annually in 2014 and it is drastically increased to 2 million
world but they should consider the environment issues which make the tons per annum in 2018 but only 4,38,085 tons of e-waste is collected
people to think back again (Janjua, 2021; Townsend, 2011). and recycled per annum. Maximum e-waste contribution in India by
According to the European environment agency report state wise hierarchical order as follows Maharashtra, Tamilnadu, Uttar
(European Environment Agency, 2020), the actual life time of four Pradesh, West Bengal, Delhi, Karnataka, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh
main e-products such as smart phone, television, washing machine and (ASSOCHAM, 2018). The state wise e-waste contribution is shown in
vacuum cleaner has been compared with designed lifetime as shown Fig. 5. The data for plotting the graph (Fig. 5) is obtained from the liter-
in Fig. 4. It is noted that the actual lifetime is always lesser than the ature in (ASSOCHAM, 2018). It is clearly evident that the Maharashtra
designed life time. From the Fig. 4, it is clearly understood that the LCD produces the largest e-waste (19.8% of the total e-waste) as compared
television actual time differs largely with the designed life time due to with other states in India. It should be noted that only 47,810 t per an-
technological outdated. Outdated technology refers either the product num e-waste is recycled.
gets outdated in the view of customer due to the frequent launch of new Considering the recycling process of e-waste in India, only 5% of
products with multiple advanced features or the usage of components total e-waste gets properly collected and recycled in which 95% have

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R. Rajesh, D. Kanakadhurga and N. Prabaharan Environmental Challenges 7 (2022) 100507

Fig. 4. Comparison of designed lifetime and actual lifetime of elec-

tronic appliances.

Fig. 5. Contribution of E-waste at different states in India.

been done by the unorganized sector. Many children and adolescents too diverse so that the various pollutants emitted from the e-waste. It
have been involved for collecting and processing the e-waste where has different substances which comes under both hazardous and non-
4.5 lakhs of child labour have been engaged in the age around 10–14 hazardous categories (Rautela et al., 2021; Standard, 2018). Generally,
years. Prolonged exposure of these disposed e-waste during the recy- e-waste consists of glass, wood, printed circuit boards, batteries, fer-
cling without having safety measures leads to severe damage of nervous rous (steel, iron) and non-ferrous metals (aluminium, copper and lead),
system, skin disorder, lung cancer, heart, liver, respiratory syndromes concrete, rubber, ceramics, rare earths and other precious metals (gold,
and brain development. The percentage of e-waste generation in India silver). More than one million poor people have been involved in man-
is 4.56 times greater than the yearly e-waste processing capacity offered ual recycling process. Most of them are living in the urban places with
by the nation in 2018. The increasing value of e-waste due to the lack lack of awareness concerning e-waste hazard (Soetrisno and Delgado-
of awareness of dumping procedure and also lack of recycling infras- Saborit, 2020). The three types of WEEE such as consumer electronics,
tructure (ASSOCHAM, 2018; 2020). The main e- products in India that large household appliances and information & communication equip-
are responsible for increasing the e-waste are desktops, smartphones, ment generate the 90% of e-waste in India (Needhidasan et al., 2014;
laptops and televisions. As per economic times e-paper, India is one of Vats and Singh, 2014). Chemical substances are also the part of e-waste
the leading smart phone consumers around the globe in terms of sales, which affects the human health badly (Dupont et al., 2016; Fernandes
usage and utilization of internet (Tech, 2020). To make a modern smart et al., 2015; Kijko, 2014; Mohammadi et al., 2021; Peshin et al., 2015;
phone, it requires more than 70 stable metal out of 83 from a peri- Skovgaard, 2004). The major chemical substances and their effect in
odic table (Parajuly et al., 2019). The processing of these metals affects human health are described in Table 2. Fig. 6 shows the overall causes
the environment directly. Considering the metro cities, four out of ev- due to improper recycling of the e-waste. The impact of importing the
ery twenty mobile users having 4G enabled smartphone, eleven users electronic product is already described in the previous section. From
having 3G enabled smartphone and remaining user having basic phone. the Fig. 6, it is evident that the air and water are the major pollutants.
This makes country’s telecom industry to grow further but in future may Therefore, the sub-sequent section is explained the possibilities of air
experience the compatibility issues (Balde et al., 2017; Parajuly et al., pollution and water pollution due to e-waste. Environmental Impact As-
2019). sessment (EIA) and life cycle assessment have been used as parameters
to estimate the environmental impact of e-waste. In Nita et al. (2022),
the significance of EIA in reducing the environmental pollution due to
3. Environment concerns and health hazard
e-waste disposal has been reviewed from researcher‘s perspectives. Also,
the requirement for improvements in EIA stages, procedures & method-
Around six lakhs workers have been employed in both organized and
ology and future suggestions have been discussed. On the other hand,
unorganized sectors for collecting the e-waste and recycling process at
life cycle assessment and material flow analysis has been considered to
Delhi in India. Improper handling of e-waste may affect the environ-
estimate the environmental impact of e-waste from printed wire board
ment badly and create different health hazards in human. E-waste is

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R. Rajesh, D. Kanakadhurga and N. Prabaharan Environmental Challenges 7 (2022) 100507

Table 2
Causes of chemical substances due to e-waste.

Chemical substances Availability Causes

Lead Computer monitors, PCB, Glass panels Central and peripheral nervous systems,
kidney, blood systems, children‘s brain
development, reproductive systems
Mercury Thermostats, relays, sensors, PCB and Kidney, brain
measuring equipment, flat panel displays
Cadmium Infra-red detectors, semiconductor chips, Kidney, respiratory systems
batteries, toys and plastics
Chromium IV Corrosion resistant used for coating Damage to DNA
electro-galvanized steels and individual
components (Screws, rivets, switches,
plugs, antenna and other accessories)
PVC Cables, computer housings When incinerated, it will emit toxic fumes
which damage the immune system &
pulmonary dysfunction
Beryllium Used with copper and nickel to produce
electrical contacts, gyroscopes,
spot-welding electrodes, springs,
and non-sparking tools, gears and cogs in Chronic beryllium disease, skin disease
aviation industry
Antimony Batteries, semiconductors Irritation of eye and skin, stomach pain,
diarrhea
Arsenic Integrated circuit and semiconductors Affects digestive tract, lung cancer, skin
cancer.
Phthalates Plastic enclosures, cables, wires, and Damage to liver and kidney
connectors
Barium Ceramics, automobile, electronic tubes Short term exposure to barium can cause
and glass liver, cardiac or spleen damage
Dioxins & Furans Older transformers, capacitors,fluorescent Damage immune and hormone system
lighting fixtures, electrical devices

Fig. 6. Effect of pollution due to informal activities of e-waste.

in Malaysia (Ismail and Hanafiah, 2021). In Ismail and Hanafiah (2021), liquid may creates the numerous possibilities to pollute the environment
direct incineration with energy recovery has been suggested as the best especially the liquid form can not filter quickly and last longer for even
e-waste management technique. centuries (Needhidasan et al., 2014; Zeller, 2013).
Ewaste treatment plant utilizes the hydrometallurgical process to re-
move valuable metals like silver, tellurium, and gold from the various
3.1. Water
categories of e-waste. The nitric acid and cyanide have been used for re-
moving the valuable metals through the process but it produces large
Mobile phones and batteries have many toxic metals. Suppose, the
amount of wastewater (Pollutant water) which contains many toxic
incorrect disposing of these metals would lead to contamination of soil
compounds. If the wastewater consumed by the consumers directly or
and water. It is stated that the improper management of e-waste can
indirectly without proper waste water treatment leads to damage the
affect the environment badly. For an example, a single mobile phone
human health adversely (Ackah, 2017). Due to water contamination in
battery can pollute 6 lakhs litres of water (Moletsane and Zuva, 2018).
Pakistan, around 45% of infants die in every year and it happens because
Waste mobile phone plastics has mercury, chromium, lead, stibium, and
of the lack of water treatment plant in industries. Also, the groundwater
bromine. When it is not handled properly, it may affect the environment
in Pakistan has been highly polluted that adversely affects the agricul-
and human health (Singh et al., 2020). It is also insisted that the open
ture sector (Janjua et al., 2021). High persistent and non-degradable
burning of the waste mobile phone plastics should be avoided to reduce
metals as in the form of particulate matter can enter the human bodies
the environmental pollution. Mercury is one of the voluminous noxious
through either inhalation or eating the food products. Consumption of
compounds in e-waste which can exist in any form such as solid, gas or

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R. Rajesh, D. Kanakadhurga and N. Prabaharan Environmental Challenges 7 (2022) 100507

food products is the major pathway for entering these toxic metals into the ecosystem. Due to the toxic landfills, air pollution and water pollu-
human body as compared with inhalation (Li et al., 2012). For example, tion results in diminution of microbial diversity and in turn affects the
micro plastics screening has been examined in several edible fish from overall ecosystem (Liu et al., 2015).
the municipal water supply in Nigeria. Around 69.7% fishes have micro India is the fifth largest country for selling the automobiles in 2019
plastics in its stomach whereas only 30.3% fishes had no micro plastics. as per the report of India brand equity foundation. The EV are acknowl-
It should be noted that the native people consume more percentage of edged as the future technology which reduces the air pollution in trans-
fishes which comes under this category (Adeogun et al., 2020). portation sector yet it is limited in developing countries like India due
Many people do not have the proper awareness to dispose either to many challenges such as lack of charging infrastructure, automotive
the electronic products or the waste from e-products so that the risk of industry landscape and cost benefit. Due to the abovementioned chal-
water pollution increases which leads to intensify the reduction in biodi- lenges, the purchase of EV is limited. For motivating the EV consumers
versity and socio-economic development (Kumaraswamy et al., 2020). in India, the government has taken the various steps especially for ex-
Manufacturing industries such as battery, automobile, microelectronics empting the income tax and percentage GST reductions to the owner
and other industries utilize the copper metal which contributes more of EV. The Delhi is the capital of India which suffers largely in air pol-
toxicants into the water bodies (Tabagari et al., 2020). Almost all the lution. The transition from the fuel/gas-based vehicles to electric vehi-
countries depend on the ground water in fully or partially for their sur- cle/hybrid electric vehicle is the good remedy for reducing the air pol-
vival and also utilized for farming, domestic and industrial purposes. lution. Considering the recycling batteries, India should improve their
But the ground water has been contaminated because of activities like recycling infrastructure and facility to suppress the environmental pol-
leaching, dumping and e-waste processing entities (Postigo and Barceló, lution (Shah, 2019). Although India have separate legal instruments for
2015). handling the battery but the safe recycling of lead-acid battery remains
a challenging one. Initiating of the recycling process of battery starts
3.2. Air form the consumer end. While purchasing a new battery, consumer gets
discount while returning their old battery with authorized retailers. This
The informal sectors can recover the valuable materials from the e- recycling is carried out both in formal and informal modes. In formal
waste but they will pollute the environment due to informal processing mode, after receiving old battery from the consumer, it reaches to the
methods such as burning the unsoldering circuit boards over coal-fired manufacturer or authorized recycler through the retailer. Informal mode
grills in open air, melting plastics, burning cables for removing the cop- retailer may sell the batteries to the roving collectors who again sell it to
per, shedding metals by acid bath and dismantling printer cartridges. the informal smelters through scrap dealers where they will perform the
At last, these extractions may ended-up with the dumping of invaluable recycling process to remove the lead. Finally, it will reach to the local
materials or throwing residues at the riverbanks (Zhang et al., 2012). manufacturer and it may ready for the next selling process. In Gupt and
For example, fly ash could be produced by burning the PCB in an open Sahay (2015), indicated that the informal smelters during the battery re-
facility that has high concentration of tin, copper, lead, bromine and low cycling process may emit the heavy pollutant as equivalent to the value
concentration of zinc and antimony. They may mixed up with airborne of eight lakhs car running on the leaded petrol. This type of recycling
particles resulting in indirect exposure through contagion of soil, food predominately happening at Delhi and also many states in India (Gupt
and surface water. PCBs are core part of many electrical equipment. and Sahay, 2015; Gupta, 2020). Under this situation, India should focus
If the PCBs are treated properly, the rich source of materials such as on the lithium ion batteries recycling because India lacks the authorized
copper, iron, ferrite, nickel, silver, gold, palladium, bismuth, antimony, lithium ion battery recycling plants for mobility batteries. Lithium ion
tantalum and some non-metals like epoxy resin, glass will be extracted batteries are less hazardous as compared to other batteries but should
(Ning et al., 2017). not be dumped with normal waste materials. Suppose, if lithium ion bat-
Dust particles released into the atmosphere from the e-waste dis- tery is properly recycled, the useful materials like aluminium, graphite,
mantling sites has flame retardants and heavy metal particles. These copper and cobalt may obtained (Media, 2019).
particles can travel longer distances through air and also pollutes the
water or soil. Considering the E-waste recycling areas such as Delhi (In- 4. E-waste disposal methodologies
dia) and Guiyu (China) confirms that air, dust, soil and water has very
high level of PCDD, PCDF, PBDE and lead content due to the improper Most of the e-waste has been disposed to the landfills, incinerators
disposals (Chakraborty et al., 2021; Xu et al., 2015). At the same time, and also it has been exported from the developed countries to the de-
the organic pollutant like brominated flame retardants were found more veloping countries like India, China, Pakistan and Malaysia. In recent
in the city like Taizhou (China) which is far away from the waste dump years, the export of e-waste was banned in most of the countries and
yards (Pascale et al., 2017) and chemicals from informal metal recycling they have been framed the separate legislation for proper disposal of e-
in Guiyu (Kim et al., 2020). waste. The e-waste disposal methodologies have been followed widely
Yet, there is no one reported for direct or immediate harm due to the which includes dumping in landfills, acid bath, incineration, leaching,
exposure of e-waste. But the long-term exposure of e-waste by workers recycling and reuse.
may have the few symptoms based on the substances available in the air
(Ackah, 2017). In Ha et al. (2009), nearby areas of disposal and recy- 4.1. Landfilling
cling process in Bangalore and Chennai has been tested with reference to
the United States of America Environmental Protection Agency value to Landfill being the most commonly used and informal e-waste dis-
identify the affected rate of air, soil and humans due to e-waste acquain- posal methodology which is harmful to the soil and atmosphere (Media,
tance. The result seems alarming because the lead in soil, chromium and 2019; Mmereki et al., 2016; Robinson, 2009). The environmental im-
cadmium in air exceeds the reference value which was suggested by US pacts and health impacts of workers at informal e-waste recycling site
Environmental Protection Agency (Borthakur and Govind, 2017; Pascale in Ghana is discussed in Acquah et al. (2021), Asibey et al. (2020).
et al., 2017). In Spalvins et al. (2008), the authors had analysed the disposal of e-
Due to improper e-waste disposal in China headed to deposition of waste in municipal solid waste landfills at USA and found that the lead
toxic metals like lead, mercury and cadmium which make soil conta- concentration is lower than the specified limit. The above study found
gion leads to affect the irrigation areas especially crops. It will reach that the concentration of lead has been reduced by the proper manage-
the human and livestock through the food chain consumption for long- ment maintenance of the disposal sites and the recycling of the lead acid
term makes severe health issues (Fu et al., 2008; Kim et al., 2020). Mi- batteries. However, landfill is not a good option for the disposal of e-
crobes plays a crucial part in maintaining the biogeochemical cycles in waste which pollute the soil and groundwater (Kiddee et al., 2020). In

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R. Rajesh, D. Kanakadhurga and N. Prabaharan Environmental Challenges 7 (2022) 100507

Kiddee et al. (2020), the different e-waste disposal methodologies have materials such as quartz, silica and carbon material containing parts &
been critically reviewed and discussed the different metallic contami- halogenated derivatives (Okwu and Onyeje, 2014).
nants in e-waste that are harmful to the environment when disposed to E-waste contains many toxic metals like lead, mercury, cadmium,
landfills. tin, bromide dioxins and etc. When it is dumped into the land fill or
thrown into water body, it could affect the bio-life in both soil and wa-
ter. Table 3 gives the information about the different hazardous metal
4.2. Incineration
in e-waste, informal extraction of those metals that creates the impact
on the environment and human health. The proper metal extraction
Incineration is the thermal process which includes the combus-
methodologies should be followed inorder to overcome the above said
tion of e-waste. It may be used for the conversion of waste to other
problems. After collection of the e-waste, it should be dismantled prop-
form of energy. It includes the processes such as gasification and py-
erly with care and individual components should be segregated based on
rolysis. It could be either handled by the modern incinerators (con-
their chemical properties. Segregated materials must be separated and
sists of proper filters with protective devices) or open burning. The
then disposed safely without affecting the environment. As a result of
open burning method pollutes the atmosphere by releasing the haz-
the extraction, the precious metals like gold, copper, silver, palladium
ardous gasses like carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen ox-
could be obtained from the e-waste which has economical benefits. The
ides (Sivaramanan, 2013). The above-mentioned disadvantages could be
extraction of the hazardous metal reduces the environmental pollution.
avoided by performing the process in well protected environment and
E-waste recycling consists of three main steps such as collection, pre-
also catalyst usage (Benedetti et al., 2017). In Benedetti et al. (2017), the
processing and end processing. Most of the e-waste collection process
usage of FAMB as the catalyst in pyrolysis process reduces the char and
comes under the informal sector. The pre-processing of e-waste con-
releases the hydrogen. This is the most advantageous disposal method
tains different process such as dismantling, testing & isolating of in-
as the process converts the waste to energy and reduce the e-waste
dividual components, shredding of e-waste scrap using hammer mills
quantity as faster. In Hsu et al. (2019), the pyrolysis had used to re-
and segregation of metals & non-metals by utilizing the processes like
cycle the non-metals from the printed circuit boards and concluded that
screening, magnetic, eddy current and density separation techniques
the supercritical fluids could replace the pyrolysis for the extraction
(Schluep, 2009). Figure 7 portrays the preprocessing techniques re-
of non-metals. The direct incineration with energy recovery has been
quired to seperate the metals, non-metals, wirings and plastics. The de-
compared with landfill disposal, materials recovery without and with
tailed explanation for each step in preprocessing techniques has been
energy recovery in Ismail and Hanafiah (2021). The PCBs from waste
discussed in Khaliq et al. (2014). The major components of most com-
mobile phones has been considered as the e-waste. The comparison has
monly used electronic devices such as mobile phones, laptops, key-
been made based on the waste reduction ratio and environmental cost
boards and televisions could be recycled by using the above pre-
benefit ratio. From the results, direct incinerator with energy recovery
processing steps. The precious metals such as copper, gold or lead could
has been proved as the best e-waste management technique in Malaysia
be extracted from the cathode ray tubes and PCBs from the above-
(Ismail and Hanafiah, 2021).
mentioned electronic devices. On the other hand, after segregation of
the metals & non-metals should be handled by the different meth-
4.3. Recycling and reuse ods separately. Recycling of non-metallic PCB materials has done by
the chemical processes like gasification, pyrolysis, supercritical fluid
As the process of e-waste disposal, the informal recycling and in- de-polymerization and hydrogenolytic degradation for producing the
formal metal extraction is becoming a potential threat to the environ- chemical substances and fuels (Kaya, 2016) that could be used in py-
ment. The circular economy with repair, reuse and remanufacture has rometallurgical processes. The separation of metals from e-waste could
been insisted as the e-waste management technique to maximize the be done by various metallurgical processes based on the type of met-
profit and achieve the zero e-waste (Chen and Ogunseitan, 2021). In als. In Lucier and Gareau (2019), informal and formal sectors of e-waste
Chen and Ogunseitan (2021), the blockchain has been suggsted to re- disposal and recycling have been critically reviewed. The informal &
duce the structural and economic barriers of e-waste management. Vir- formal sectors and legislation on e-waste management for countries like
gin mining is the process of extraction of metals from its ore. But the srilanka (Ranasinghe and Athapattu, 2020), brazil (Souza, 2020), Aus-
dependency on virgin mining for the manufacturing process became un- tralia (Islam and Huda, 2021) and United states, Japan, Switzerland &
sustainable due to the rapid depletion of natural resources (Jones and Indonesia (Raharjo and Utomo, 2021) have been discussed in detail. The
Wynn, 2021). Urban mining has been compared with the virgin mining techniques mostly used for the extraction of metals and nonmetals from
in Zeng et al. (2018). The cost of copper and gold extraction through vir- the E-waste are illustrated in Fig. 8.
gin mining have been proved to be costlier than the extraction of copper
and gold from recycling of cathode ray oscilloscopes and printed circuit 4.3.1. Metallurgical process
boards of end-of-life televisions (urban mining) (Zeng et al., 2018). In The metals from the e-waste could be processed by different metal-
Yang et al. (2021), the economic analysis of the metal recovery process lurgical processes such as hydrometallurgical, pyrometallurgical, elec-
has been analysed by considering five different stages in China, North trometallurgical, bio metallurgical processes, and hybrid process (com-
America, and Europe. The cost analysis has considered the purchase of bination of any two) (Balaji and Senophiyah-Mary, 2020). The metal-
e-waste, processing cost, recovery of precious metals such as gold, sil- lurgy includes shaping, alloying, heat treatment, joining, corrosion pro-
ver and copper and the profit obtained from the precious metals. The tection and testing of metals. The precious metals like gold, copper, sil-
results showed that the minimum profit for China than the North Amer- ver, palladium have been extracted from the e-waste by hydrometallur-
ica and Europe because the purchasing cost of e-waste is higher in China gical, pyrometallurgical and bio leaching processes in Kavitha (2014).
(Yang et al., 2021). Urban mining is also known as recycling which is The overall sustainability of metal recovery from e-waste technologies
a collective process includes the separation of metallic & non-metallic has been analysed for different metallurgical processes considering en-
components (dismantling, crushing, shredding & milling, sieving & sep- vironmental, economic and social performance in Debnath et al. (2018).
aration) and chemical techniques such as pyrolysis, metallurgical pro- Also, the different metallurgical has been compared in Hsu et al. (2019).
cesses & leaching (Ramanayaka et al., 2020). Urban mining is an eco- In Wu et al. (2017), the extraction of copper, gold, silver and palla-
nomically advantageous method as it is used either to extract potentially dium from waste PCBs using hydrometallurgical process has been dis-
the precious metals such as gold, silver, palladium, and platinum, base cussed. The metallurgical processes such as pyrometallurgy and hy-
metals such as copper, zinc, nickel, and ferrous or toxic elements such as drometallurgy were critically reviewed in Ilankoon et al. (2018). In
lead, cadmium, mercury (Anselm et al., 2021), carbon-based insulated the above article, hydrometallurgy was insisted as the environment

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R. Rajesh, D. Kanakadhurga and N. Prabaharan Environmental Challenges 7 (2022) 100507

Table 3
Comparison of different contaminants of e-waste and its impact.

Contaminants Causes Environmental impacts Health impacts

Metals (Aluminium, Arsenic, Antimony, Incineration or the burning of e-waste in Fumes, dust, and smoke polluted the Several forms of cancer, nervous system
Barium, Beryllium, Cadmium, Chromium, open fires, or using acids for informal atmosphere, contaminate soils, problem, skin and eye irritations, liver,
Copper, Europium, Palladium, Lithium, e-waste recycling agricultural crops, and drinking water and kidney damage, anemia,
Iron, Tin, Manganese, Zinc, Nickel, Precipitation via dry or wet deposition resources. immunotoxicity, gastrointestinal
Selenium, Silica, Yttrium, Mercury, Lead, after rain Rice and vegetables, cultivated in the problems, nausea, vomiting, and
Gold, Platinum, Indium, Silver) same region showed elevated heavy metal abdominal pain caused by the exposure of
concentrations copper and zinc in the atmosphere.
Mercury contamination causes
malfunction of peripheral visions,
numbness in hands, feet, and around the
mouth, extrapyramidal diseases and
movement disorders, impairment in
writing, speech, hearing, and walking,
mental degradation and kidney damage.
Children, especially those born to mothers
exposed to mercury, are highly vulnerable
to diseases like ataxia, constriction of the
visual field, congenital cerebral palsy, or
mental retardation.
lung fibrosis, cardiovascular and kidney
diseases were resulted from the nickel
contamination
Phthalates (Monoethyl phthalate (MEP), Disposal of coated wires, cables, Pollutes air both indoor and outdoor. Affects the liver and kidney. Also test on
Mono-n-butyl phthalate(MBP), components of inks, adhesives, sealants, Most commonly found in indoor in the rats proved reproductive toxicity
Monobenzyl phthalate(MBzP), surface coatings and personal care form of air and dust
Monoisobutyl phthalate(MiBP), products
Di-isononyl phthalate(DINP),
Di-ethylhexyl phthalate(DEHP),
Mono-ethylhexyl phthalate(MEHP),
Butylbenzyl phthalate(BBP), Dibutyl
phthalate(DBP), Di-isodecyl
phthalate(DIDP))
Chlorinated compounds (Polychlorinated Dismantle, recycle and disposal of PCBs Affects groundwater, soil, atmosphere, Immunological and reproductive
biphenyls(PCBs), Tri-chlorobenzenes, and marine life disorders in marine mammals, When
tetra-chlorobenzenes, mothers exposed to PCBs and PCDFs, the
mono-chlorobenzenes, children are prone to higher incidences of
hexachlorobenzene, penta- retarded growth, delayed cognitive
chlorobenzenes, di- chlorobenzenes, development and behavioural problems
Polychlorinated dibenzo- p-dioxins)
Flame retardants (PBDE, pentabrominated Flame retardant additives in plastics and Food contamination and direct exposure Abnormal brain development in animals
congeners, octabrominated congeners, foams, including plastic casings of to chemicals from consumer products & and human, affects memory, learning and
decabrominated congeners, brominated electronic equipment contaminated specks of dust behaviour on long term exposure in
dioxins/furans, mixed bromochloro human endocrine (hormone) disrupting,
dioxins/furans, TPP, monocyte carboxyl affects estrogen, androgen & thyroid
esterase) system and immunity system

Fig. 7. E-waste preprocessing techniques before recycling.

friendly approach than pyrometallurgy, as the hydrometallurgy oper- treatment methods before the process of leaching were suggested for bet-
ates at lower temperatures, emits very less harmful gasses and also ter efficiency and the method of cutting the PCB into (2 cm × 1.5 cm)
the process is simple. Leaching is a hydrometallurgical process of ex- pieces & soaking in NaOH was proved to be more efficient in metal
tracting the metal from the e-waste by using a solvent. Based on the extraction.
type of solvent used, the leaching process is classified into chemical In chemical leaching, certain chemicals have been used to extract
leaching and bio Leaching. In Moyo et al. (2020), seven different pre- the precious metals from the e-waste. Different leaching methods such

8
R. Rajesh, D. Kanakadhurga and N. Prabaharan Environmental Challenges 7 (2022) 100507

Fig. 8. Extraction of metals and non-metals.

as acid leaching, cyanide leaching, halide leaching, thiourea leaching, been used as electrolyte while lead chloride has been used as an elec-
thiosulfate leaching, aqua regia leaching and ionic liquid acid leaching trolyte for lead extraction.
have been discussed in Wu et al. (2017), Dave et al. (2016). It has also
explained the processes associated with the metal extraction and the
4.3.3. Vacuum recycling process
harmful effects of each process. Acid bath is the process of immersing the
The recycling process in vacuum possess various advantages such
electronic circuits in the sulphuric acid, hydrochloric acid or nitric acid
as reduced residues after the process, minimal impact on water, soil
to recover the metals which can be reused after recycling in the man-
and atmospheric pollution. In Zhan and Xu (2014), different processes
ufacturing sector. Although the recycling with acid bath has economic
involved in the vacuum metallurgy separation such as vacuum evap-
benefits but the waste coming out from the acid bath contaminates the
oration & sublimation, vacuum carbon reduction and vacuum pyroly-
water sources. In Sivaramanan (2013), the extraction of copper from
sis have been critically reviewed. It has also discussed about the ex-
circuit boards and gold & silver from lead has been discussed.
traction of metals such as copper, tin, lead, iron, nickel and cadmium
Chemicals produced by some bacteria may seperate the metals from
from any one of the following material such as waste batteries. LCD,
electronic scrap which is termed as bio leaching. Chromobacterium
PCB, pole transformer, capacitors and cables by utilizing the above-
violaceum is a type of bacteria that could produce an antimicrobial
mentioned vacuum processes. Lead, zinc, cadmium and bismuth have
agent called violacein which could be used to extract precious metals
been extracted from the e-waste by vacuum evaporation under high
from the E-waste (Kwok and Writer, 2019). This method may com-
pressure in Taylor et al. (2012). Different e-waste management tech-
paratively more sustainable than other extraction techniques such as
niques have been critically analysed and benefits of vacuum recycling
heating e-waste to high temperatures or adding toxic chemicals. In
has been explained in Abdelbasir et al. (2018).
Thompson et al. (2018), this method has been tested on e-waste materi-
als such as fluorescent lamp parts and fluid catalytic cracking catalysts
in 2016. In Kavitha (2014), discussed about the extraction of copper, 4.3.4. Extraction of non- metals from e-waste
nickel, aluminium & zinc from electronic scrap through Acidithiobacil- Non-metallic material is usually the leftovers after the extraction of
lus ferrooxidans + Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans and extraction of precious metals from the e-waste. The non-metals such as epoxy resin,
lithium & copper from lithium batteries through Acidithiobacillus fer- brominated flame retardants, dicyandiamide curing agent, curing accel-
rooxidans. The drawbacks of the pyrometallurgical and hydrometallur- erator, glass fiber could be extracted from the residue by physical and
gical techniques such as atmospheric pollution, inefficient in precious chemical methods (Guanghan et al., 2016). The physical methods as-
metals extraction, generation of acidic water in large quantity which sociated with the separation of metallic and non-metallic components
pollutes the water sources and the requirement of high investment includes mechanical crushing, winnowing and electrostatic separation.
(Dave et al., 2016; Nithya et al., 2021). The importance of bioleach- The chemical processes utilized for separation of metals and non-metals
ing with chemolithoautotrophs, cyanogenic microbes and organic acid were pyrolysis, gasification, depolymerization using supercritical fluids
producing fungi and bio metallurgical processes have been explained in and hydrogenolytic degradation processes (Kaya, 2016). The extraction
Dave et al. (2016), Razali et al. (2021). Also, different microorganisms of metals and non-metals from the PCBs through physical techniques
for the extraction of different metals and effectiveness of the microor- such as gravity separation, magnetic separation and electrostatic sep-
ganisms in conversion process has been discussed.This technique is not aration have been reviewed in Kaya (2017). Other advanced methods
commercially applied to recover metals from e-waste due to the longer for e-waste recycling such as high-pressure compaction, cement solid-
period required for implementation. ification, thermal treatment, organic dissolution, simple acid leaching,
plasma-coupled acid leaching and substrate oxidation have been insisted
4.3.2. Electrolytic process
in Kiddee et al. (2020). It has also suggested that the bio treatment tech-
Electrolysis is a technique that utilizes the electric current to induce
nique is the sound technique for reducing the environmental pollution
a chemical reaction for the extraction of metals. In Liu et al. (2017),
over the thermal treatment processes.
the copper powder has been extracted by using a mixture of copper
sulphate pentahydrate (𝐶𝑢𝑆𝑂4 .5𝐻2 𝑂), sodium chloride (𝑁𝑎𝐶𝑙) and sul-
furic acid (𝐻2 𝑆𝑂4 ) as the electrolyte. It has also analysed the impact 5. E-waste scenario in India and its management
of concentration for each part of electrolyte in the copper extraction.
In Veglio et al. (2003), the copper and lead has been extracted by elec- Large variety of compounds have been used for manufacturing the
trowinning process. The electrowinning has been done after the pre- electrical and electronics equipment. For instance, the quantity of in-
processing and leaching. For copper extraction, copper sulphate has dividual heavy metals, compositions of metal and metalloids have not

9
R. Rajesh, D. Kanakadhurga and N. Prabaharan Environmental Challenges 7 (2022) 100507

specified properly while producing the electrical and electronics equip- It should be noted that green color dustbin for biodegradable wastes,
ment in electronic industry. The compositions of elements will be main- white color dustbin for recyclable waste and black color dustbin for
tained as secret information due to the patent filing. For example, other wastes. This municipal solid waste management act largely fo-
lithium ion batteries have been used in modern smartphones which con- cuses only on the collection part of waste materials includes the safety
tains the manganese, carbon and cobalt oxides. Therefore, it is very dif- of the workers rather than the other process/functions. This regulation
ficult in processing these elements as it comes in the form of e-waste prohibits the manual handling of solid waste but unavoidable circum-
because it requires proper infrastructure. The localized collection pro- stances it encourages the manual handling of waste could be done with
cess and advanced infrastructure were lacked in India so the people the proper safety precaution of workers. Meanwhile, this act emphases
throw the waste particles into the dustbin without any categorization. on the landfill techniques, post closure care of landfill locations for at
The first public e-waste bin has been installed at Bengaluru city by the least 15 years and periodic health checkup for landfill workers. Location
non-governmental organizations in the year 2017 (Sunitha, 2019). The of landfill areas must be selected away from the places such as national
absence of e-waste bin leads to increase invariably the ecological pol- park, water bodies, forest areas, habitation clusters etc. State pollution
lution by dumping the waste particles without any recycling process control board is responsible for monitoring the municipal solid waste
(Sunitha, 2019). Therefore, it is necessary to get the knowledge about management functions (Ray and Rahman, 2016).
the evolution of e-waste management in India. So, the sub-section will A new legal instrument called the Hazardous Wastes (Management,
address the different policies for handling the e-waste includes collect- Handling and Transboundary Movement) Rules in the year 2008 which
ing, processing and recycling in India. was derived from the rules of 1989. The 1989 rule had concentrated
only the waste from inside the country but the revised rule in 2008 had
5.1. Different policies in india based on E-waste concentrated the hazardous waste in both domestic and transboundary
activities (Mundada et al., 2004; Singh, 2018). This rule clarifies that it
The main purpose of waste management is to reduce or eradicate does not deal with the municipal solid waste, radioactive waste, wastew-
the impact on environmental pollution and human health. Also, waste ater and bio-waste because the handling and processing of these wastes
materials produced by human activity can recover the useful resources having the different and separate legal instruments/rules and regula-
through the recycling of the waste materials. Waste management pro- tion. It is the responsibility of industry authorities to manage (handling
cess includes collection, transportation, processing, recycling/disposal, and processing) these wastes by their own treatment plant or through
and monitoring of waste materials. India is continuously updating the the authorized disposal centers. This rule specifically informed to the
rules and regulations to handle the e-waste properly for betterment of all types of industry or new establishment should take the adequate
the nation as well as creating awareness to the public for reducing the care in preventing the accidents and limit consequences to the environ-
pollution based on the e-waste (Arya and Kumar, 2020). The changing of ment and human beings. In addition, the rule had insisted about safety
rules and regulation based on the increasing amount of e-waste, illegal of the workers through conducting the training programs for handling
import of e-waste, technological development and recycling activities. the waste and usage of equipment during the working environment.
The evolution of different policies and their main objectives are por- The important entities while considering transboundary movement is
trayed in Fig. 9. The detailed explanation for each policy is described in the basel convention which was defined as the control of transbound-
this section. ary movements of hazardous waste and their disposal. This is an in-
Environment protection act 1986 was the most important legal ternational entity which was created to reduce the illegal movement
instrument in the framework of waste management. This legislation of hazardous waste between countries especially developed countries
mainly focus on the environment protection measures. It does not fo- to developing countries. In addition to the basel convention, India has
cus only on the e-waste but it covers all types of waste and framed the a separate government sector namely nodal ministry i.e. MoEF to re-
different rules based on the types of waste. This act is also called as duce the transboundary movement. The key activity of MoEF was to
‘umbrella legislation’ where all the activities has been established un- prohibit the import and export of hazardous waste to and from the In-
der this single legislation. This legal instrument address both rural and dia respectively. Only in the exceptional case, it was allowed to import
urban local bodies. The previous laws had framed separately by central or export the hazardous waste for the purpose of recycling, recovery
and state authorities (Singh, 2018). and reusage process. Any import or export of hazardous waste activity
The rapid industrialization has been increased the number of chem- found without the prior permission from concern ministry will be liable
ical industries that utilize more chemicals. It pollutes the environment for violating the law of the government. As per the law, the occupier,
and human health either in alone or in contact with other wastes. Also, importer, transporter and operator of the facility are liable for all pol-
it may generate the hazardous wastes which was the major reason to lution caused to the environment and people due to the transboundary
frame the “Hazardous Wastes (Management & Handling) Rules” in 1989. activity (Karthikeyan et al., 2018; Singh, 2018).
It mainly focuses on the narrowing ecology pollution caused by waste The E-waste (Management and Handling) Rules had developed in
generated by the chemical industry. the year 2011. The main key feature of this legal instrument was Ex-
Municipal solid waste management involves generation, storage, col- tended Producer Responsibility (EPR). EPR states that it was the duty
lection, transfer & transport, processing and disposal. The examples for of the producer to framework a proper system for collecting the e-waste
municipal solid waste are food waste, commercial waste, rubbish, in- after the lifetime of the equipment or failure of the equipment before
stitutional and industrial waste, street sweeping waste, construction & its lifetime so that it creates the environmentally friendly management.
demolition waste and sanitation waste etc. Municipal Solid Waste (Man- This rule specifies that the responsibility of the producer for provid-
agement and Handling) Rules had adopted in the year 2000 (Priti and ing the necessary information about safe e-waste disposal system to the
Mandal, 2019; Singh, 2018). The municipal authority was solely respon- consumers. Pollution control board having the authority to monitor the
sible for monitoring and planning as per the legal instrument which e-waste management functions and they can provide the no objection
includes the infrastructure development for collection, storage, segre- certificate for various industries in their states to manage the e-waste
gation, transportation, processing and disposal of solid wastes. As per in the proper limit abide the suggested rules and regulation by the gov-
the act, municipal solid waste should be collected on the regular basis ernment policy. The producer must maintain the record of e-waste with
at pre-informed timing and schedules in every home. The key features furnished details so that the state pollution control board can easily ac-
of this act were the storage facilities should not be exposed at open cess the data during the inspection period (Bhaskar and Turaga, 2018;
environment and the facility adopted for storing waste should be aes- MoEF, 2011).
thetically acceptable & user friendly. Also, this act had introduced to MoEFCC amended the E-Waste (Management) Rules in the year
use the different colored dust bins with respect to the waste category. 2016, it focuses on the e-waste for every bulk consumer, manufacturer,

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R. Rajesh, D. Kanakadhurga and N. Prabaharan Environmental Challenges 7 (2022) 100507

Fig. 9. Evolution of legal instruments in India.

dealer, re-furbisher, producer responsibility organization whereas it is the permission from central pollution control board and it is possible to
not dealt with the previous legal instrument in 2011 (MoEFCC, 2016). import the e-waste to India if they are permitted. The manufacturer, pro-
The rules for certain electrical equipment that had omitted in the pre- ducer, importer, transporter, re-furbisher, dismantler and recycler are li-
vious legal instruments such as consumables, CFL and other mercury able to pay financial penalties as imposed for any violation of rules and
containing lamps were included. In addition to EPR in 2011, this rule regulation provided by the state pollution control board with prior ap-
insisted to the producers for creating awareness among the consumer proval from the central pollution control board (MoEFCC, 2016; Turaga
about their collection centers and take back system through proper com- et al., 2019).
munication channel. Deposit refund scheme had introduced to channel- The e-waste collection target through EPR in E- Waste (Management)
ize the effective implementation of EPR. At the time of selling a new Amendment Rules was revised in 2018 from the previous E-waste man-
e-product, an additional amount has been taken from the consumer and agement act 2016. This revised EPR rules was applicable for producers
saved as deposit. The deposited amount should be returned to the con- who recently started their sales. E-waste collection target percentage
sumer with proper interest, after the end of life of particular e-product had reduced for the producers who has less year of sales duration than
provided that the proper return to the authorized dealers. The collec- the average life of their selling product. For example, if the producer
tion target by EPR starts with 30% of the total e-waste generation and collected e-waste between Oct 2016 and September 2017, this shall be
every two year there will be an increase in 10%. i.e. 70% starts from the considered for the financial year 2017–2018. In comparison with the act
period of seventh year. The state government is responsible in ensuring of 2016 EPR, the percentage of collecting e-waste had reduced to 5% in-
the safety, healthiness and skill development of workers who have in- crease for every two years form 10% for every two years. At seventh year
volved in dismantling and recycling process of e-waste. The e-waste im- onwards, the collection of e-waste must be 20% of sales account of previ-
port is strictly restricted and it can be allowed only for special cases with ous financial year. For other producers, the target for first year is 10% of
proper permission. The producers who have EPR authorization alone get quantity of e-waste generation and there is 10% increase of e-waste tar-

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R. Rajesh, D. Kanakadhurga and N. Prabaharan Environmental Challenges 7 (2022) 100507

Table 4
Number of dismantling and recycling units across India.

State No. of dismantlers/ recyclers State No. of dismantlers/ recyclers

Andhra Pradesh 1 Madhya Pradesh 2

Chattisgarh 1 Orrisa 3
Gujarat 16 Punjab 3
Goa 1 Rajasthan 26
Haryana 28 Tamilnadu 24
Himachal Pradesh 1 Telangana 11
Jammu & Kashmir 1 Uttar Pradesh 41
Karnataka 71 Uttarakhand 4
Maharashtra 75 West Bengal 3

get of 10% every year (MoEFCC, 2018; Turaga et al., 2019). Central pol- washing machine, air conditioner, microwave, cable and wire, televi-
lution control board can randomly examine any electrical and electronic sion, CRT, monitor, mobiles and chargers, printer, hard disk are the main
equipment available in the market and verify whether it follows the per- reason for decreasing the informal sector business in bulk volumes and
missible limit of hazardous substances. The cost of the test will be borne many informal units had shut down completely during this period. For
by the Indian government if hazardous substances such as lead, mercury, example, most CRT monitors technology had replaced with LED and LCD
cadmium should less than the permission value otherwise the producer monitors. Therefore, this transition reduces inflow of e-waste as well as
will bear the cost of the inspection. These are the main changes have no demand for new CRT monitors. The informal recycling or disman-
done in legal instrument 2018 as compared with legal instrument 2016 tling units don’t have any health or environmental protection measures.
because the producer would bear the cost of the inspection in 2016 even 92% of units were not aware of the E-waste management rules in 2016.
if it is within the permissible value. In 2019 and 2020, the government Compared to the formal sector, informal dismantling units make cost
has taken the various steps to create the awareness about the e-waste beneficial because the informal sector heads utilizing the low-cost la-
to the public by employing the different campaign, training programs, bor employee. The infrastructure or working units are not needed so
policy awareness workshop, conference cum exhibitions (ASSOCHAM, that these unit owners make more profits than the formal sector. As
2019; MoEFCC, 2018; Rajput and Nigam, 2021). per guidelines of E-waste management rule 2016, a minimum of 300 m2
area is essential for dismantling 1 tons of e-waste per day but this infor-
5.2. State wise e-waste recycling capacity in India mal sector utilizes only 20–40 m2 so that it creates the major impact on
the human health. As per government guidelines, the recycling facility
As per the information given in MeitY, there are 312 authorized dis- should install wastewater treatment plant but the informal units do not
mantling/recycling units for e-waste. State wise dismantling/recycling have such treatment plants so that all harmful waste water were drain
units are furnished in Table 4. From the Table 4, it is clearly understood out into the fields (Link, 2018).
that the highest number of dismantling/recycling unit has in Maharash-
tra followed by Karnataka. It is necessary to increase the number of 6. Future suggestions for e-waste management in India
dismantling/recycling in few states in India such as Chattisgarh, An-
dra Pradesh, Goa, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir because they The major issues of the environmental and health impacts are created
have only one in every state (Meit, 2019). On the other hand, to re- due to the informal e-waste disposal and without proper recycling of the
duce the amount of e-waste MeitY conducts many awareness programs e-waste. It pollutes the soil, agriculture, groundwater, marine life and
regarding e-waste in the form of Campaign through Cinema in phases, atmosphere. To reduce the above-said impacts, the rules and regulation
Ad films, and movies. The continuous feedback has been received and should be made mandatory in all countries to handle the e-waste and
processed in finding the outcome of these programs (Meit, 2018). proper e-waste recycling. It is suggested to provide higher financial com-
pensation to the formal recycling sectors in order to reduce the informal
5.3. Informal recycling process in India recycling sector. Although, India has been framed many legislations to
control the use of hazardous substances during the manufacture of elec-
The India has a stronger vision and mission on e-waste management trical and electronic equipment. It is suggested to strongly inspect the
because India is continuously updating the legal instruments whenever electrical and electronic equipment to check the hazardous substances
required in order to handle the e-waste through proper channel. Even either in the market or in manufacturing place at regular interval basis.
though, the informal recycling sector is handling the 85–90% of e-waste India should reduce the import of electronic products because imported
which is unacceptable although it offers income to millions of people. products unintentionally support the accumulation of e-waste in near
The impact on the environment and human health make the researchers future.
to think deeper into this informal activity carried out in India. Delhi, Lists of collection centers or companies involving in the formal col-
NCR of India is the largest and major recycling hub (Borthakur and lection and recycling of e-waste must be provided by the manufacture
Singh, 2021). As per the toxics link report in 2018 (Link, 2018), fif- which includes the contact details such as an address, telephone num-
teen areas in NCR handling higher informal recycling of e-waste where bers and e-mail. The collection centers and stores should be monitored
Sellampur is the major hot zone accounting for 57% of informal recy- whether they are following the existing rules or not. Actions should be
cling activity as compared with other areas. More than 5000 informal taken if the rules are broken out by the centers by the imposing penalty.
e-waste processing units engaging more than 50,000 peoples. Most of The majority of recycling activities have been executed in small shops,
these units is operating nearly for three decades. Different key play- houses and most often manually by their bare hands in India. The avail-
ers are involved in the informal activity such as kabadiwalas, kabadi ability of workers with low labor cost and lack of monitoring in occupa-
shop, scrap dealer, dismantlers, re-furbisher, recyclers and consumers. tional and environmental regulations makes the hidden informal sector
The informal recycling sector has received with lesser amount e-waste activities to grow further. So, it is necessary to monitor the disposal of
in recent years due to the large shift in electronic market on the certain e-waste through informal activity and suggestions should be provided
equipment and implementation of 2016 Act which could directly affect to follow the formal activity. Also, awareness should be given to the
the informal recycling sector people. Equipment such as refrigerator, informal sectors for reducing out of sight activities.

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R. Rajesh, D. Kanakadhurga and N. Prabaharan Environmental Challenges 7 (2022) 100507

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