The world of e-waste
Mahak Khanna
We are living in a digital era and it is impossible to imagine life without technology. People are constantly trying to acquire new gadgets and add to their already wide array of electronic devices. This undying hunger for new gadgets has created the world’s fastest growing stream of waste – electronic waste or e-waste. Let us understand what e-waste is.
Electronic items that are working but not in use and broken electronic items constitute e-waste. Batteries, mobile phones, motherboards, laptops, stereos, refrigerators, ACs and TVs constitute a large chunk of e-waste. Changing your old pen drive for a new one with more storage, replacing old cassettes and CDs all add up to the e-waste.
Fig 1: Causes of e-waste
The current scenario
The amount of e-waste produced around the world is increasing exponentially. It has been found that 50 million tonnes of e-waste is produced around the world annually.
Fig 2: Worldwide e-waste generation statistics (Source: The Global E-waste generator)
A recent report released by the UN found that with nearly 3.2 million tonnes of waste, India is third in terms of e-waste generation.* Sadly, only 20 per cent of this waste is recycled. If we continue at this pace, we will produce double this amount by the year 2050. The problem of e-waste in India is not limited only to its production. India is fast becoming a scrap yard for e-waste from foreign countries. US is the largest exporter of e-waste to India followed by China and other European countries. Shipments from these countries reach India daily. Though the government has set regulations on the import of electronic waste, this business thrives illegally and in a manner that is certainly not environment friendly.
Fig 3: Amount of e-waste generated in different cities in India (Source: Journal of Health and Pollution)
Hazards of e-waste
If you are wondering why this waste is more dangerous than other waste, know that e-waste contains toxic elements like cadmium, mercury and lead. When this waste breaks down, it releases these harmful elements into the soil. These elements mix with the soil and affect the plants. When we consume products from these plants, the harmful elements enter our body and ultimately affect our health. Similarly, when e-waste is buried in landfills, these metals dissolve in the sludge that is formed in the landfill. This sludge then mixes with the groundwater we use, thus poisoning it. The amount of e-waste generated in the recent years has already poisoned much of the water that we consume. Researchers from Jamia Millia Islamia studied the soil and groundwater of Krishna Nagar, in East Delhi, a place close to e-waste recycling units. They found alarming levels of heavy metals leached into the soil and water.#
The e-waste generated is not only harmful to water and soil but also to the air we breathe. When e-waste is heated for breaking it down, it releases toxic chemicals into the air. This results in damaging the atmosphere. When we inhale this toxic air, it damages our lungs, blood and kidneys. In worst cases, it affects our brain too.
Management of e-waste
We have already learnt that only 20 percent of the generated e-waste is recycled. Given our large population, management of e-waste is a massive task for us. India being a dumpyard for developed countries only adds to the problem. About, 98 percent of this waste is managed in an informal manner in our country. E-waste in India is mostly processed using inefficient technologies, with little infrastructure, and in an unhealthy ecosystem. Backyard operations of recycling, dismantling and refurbishing, use rudimentary technologies which include open burning of plastics, exposure to toxic solders, dumping of acids and other materials. To add to the issue, the workers are not given any safety equipment. There is no regard for environmental protection either. Seelampur and Naraina in Delhi are full of such illegal activities where workers are continuously working without paying heed to the environment.
To combat this problem, E-Waste management rules were first introduced in the year 2001. These were updated in 2016. The rules aimed to ensure effective implementation and clear delineation of the role of producers. Collection targets were also introduced under Extended Producer Responsibility. It introduced the refurbisher and Producer Responsibility Organization (PRO) also as additional stakeholders with specific roles. The product scope was also widened with the inclusion of the Compact Fluorescent Lamp (CFL) and other mercury containing lamps. The government defined a formal chain so that each stakeholder contributes and hence is benefitted in the process.
These rules also apply to tech companies. According to these rules, each company has a target to achieve Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) authorization. This target states that the companies have to collect 30 percent e-waste generated and re-use them responsibly. If they are unable to do so their license will be cancelled. Last year when 10 tech giants missed their target, their EPR licence to import was cancelled. These included giants like Apple, Motorola and Canon.
A number of companies have been set up in the country for managing and recycling e-waste. The government is also trying to do its best to recycle tonnes of e-waste produced in India. For this, it set up E-Parisaraa, India’s first government authorized electronic waste recycler which started working in September 2005. This recycler aims at handling, recycling and reusing Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) in an eco-friendly manner, thereby reducing the e-waste produced in India.
It is clear that e-waste is affecting our lives in negative ways. It becomes imperative, therefore, to teach our kids about this issue so that they become responsible in their use of electronic items and also contribute to solving the e-waste problem.
Here are some ideas for middle school that you can use for teaching the topic. The ideas are cross-subject and different subject teachers can work together. You can take this as a week-long theme or you can individually use the ideas for your particular subject to teach about e-waste.
Day 1: Language and literature
Prepare a hand-out on e-waste, keeping in mind the language level for your learners. Additionally you can also show a video on e-waste (For example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-uyIzKIw0xY) so that students can see how much e-waste is being generated in India.
Once the students have read the handout or watched the video, divide the class into groups. Ask students to research and find out facts and information about e-waste. Then ask them to think about different ways to create awareness regarding the topic in their school. (It can be in the form of role plays, slogan writing, poster making, memes, social media campaigns, etc.). Give them 3-4 days to work on the project. Then, they can present their campaign as a group in front of the school.
Writing activity: As students develop their knowledge about the topic, you can get the students to improve their writing skills by writing a persuasive essay. For this, ask them to research about how e-waste is shipped to developing countries for reuse or as charity and whether this is a good practice.
Day 2: Mathematics and scientific reasoning
Before this class, you can prepare a questionnaire on electronic devices. The questionnaire can include the names of different electronic devices. Begin the class by asking students questions about e-waste and the things they learnt in the previous class. Ask them if they know how widespread e-waste is. Then announce that they will learn about the amount of e-waste generated in their house and neighbourhood.
Discussion and activity: Distribute the questionnaire to students and ask them to conduct this survey with their family and neighbours. Ask them to collect the data in the form of a table as given below:
Name of the electronic goods | No of people who have it |
Television | |
Mobile | |
Laptop | |
Hard drive | |
Powerbank |
The list can have more items. Once they have collected the data, ask them to pair up with their seat partner to collate the data. This will be done so that together they will have more people to compare and study.
Then ask them to represent this data in the form of a graph or pie chart. The graph may look like this:
Have the pairs swap their graphs or pie charts and analyze how many electronic gadgets people in different neighbourhoods own and which gadget is owned the most. Discuss how this is data only for a small place and how the problem is much bigger. You can then ask them to research and collect the data for the amount of e-waste generated in India. This will give them a clear picture about the tons of electronic waste that is generated in the country.
Day 3: The social sciences
Discussion and activity: As a warm up activity for this class, ask students to make a table enlisting what they already know about e-waste. You can get a scientist or a known environmentalist to hold a lecture/talk for the class. The lecture will focus on the environmental impact of e-waste. While students listen to the talk, ask them to focus on pointers like:
• What happens to the waste after it goes to the landfill?
• Which places are most affected by this problem?
• What are the negative effects of e-waste?
• Does e-waste impact only human population?
• How can this problem be curbed?
After the lecture, hold a parliament in class where students take turns to speak about their understanding of the topic. They can even debate in case they do not agree with each other. Make sure the debate is healthy and students reach a healthy conclusion.
Day 4: The natural world (EVS, biology)
By the time you reach this subject, the students will have a clear picture of what e-waste is and the amount of waste generated. Hence, the aim of this class should be to help students understand how this problem can be tackled.
Discussion and activity: Bring old bottles and cans to class and ask students if they can be reused in some manner. Talk about how they can be reused for a minute. Connect how e-waste can also be reused in a similar manner.
Using the example of a mobile phone, ask students to think about all the ways in which it can be reused. Divide the class into groups and, if possible, give an old mobile phone to each group. Ask these groups to work together and open up the mobile phone. As they dismantle the phone, ask them to list out the different parts of a mobile phone. For example, the plastic case, the battery, the metal, etc.
Also ask them to find out how these parts can be recycled or reused. Discuss the findings of each group. You can then talk about the different companies that are working towards recycling and minimizing e-waste.
You can plan a field visit to one such company so that students can better understand how these companies are contributing in reducing e-waste.
Day 5: Art and craft
Display some items that are made out of old and discarded products. It could be a plant holder from a bottle, a pen stand from the broken plastic of a phone, etc. You can discuss how e-waste can be reduced if we reuse and recycle as much as we can.
Then divide the class into groups. Ask each group to research and come up with unique class displays by recycling old electronic waste in their house. Give them 1-2 days so that they can do some research about it. The displays could be simple pen stands, key holders and decorative items.
This could help students wrap their heads around the concept of recycling and will be a great way to conclude the topic.
You can also divide the class into groups. Ask each group to collect the e-waste produced in their school. Using this e-waste, ask them to create simple mandala paintings like this. It is a great way to make beautiful yet unique art collectibles for their school and homes.
Source: https://ewasteart.wordpress.com/
Conclusion
The need of the hour is to understand how this issue is surging around us. Even though many companies and governments have come up with the concept of e-waste recycling, it is still a tiny drop in the ocean. The amount of e-waste being generated is doubling as we read this article. It is high time we turn to sustainable living, which is feasible for the environment too.
#https://www.apnlive.com/e-waste-toxic-heavy-metals-contaminating-delhi-groundwater-soil/
The author is an independent science subject matter expert who has been writing and editing content for school books and producing educational material for children for the past 8 years. She loves to tone down difficult concepts in an engaging manner so that students can easily understand them. She can be reached at mahakkatyal18@gmail.com.