ASSOCHAM Study Puts India Among World’s Top Five E-waste Generating Countries

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The recent study conducted by the Associated Chambers of Commerce & Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) and technology service provider NEC foresees tremendous growth to e-waste generation in near future. The globally generated e-waste volume is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 20% during the period from 2016 to 2021.

The report also states that India continues to be one of the major e-waste generators along with China, the USA, Japan and Germany. This is despite various sponsored initiatives by the government to curb waste generation in the country. The country generates around 2 million tonnes per annum (TPA) of e-waste. Out of this, only around 438,085 TPA gets recycled, despite availability of sufficient infrastructure to process more e-waste volumes.

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Among states, Maharashtra leads in e-waste generation, accounting for almost 19.8% of the total. The other states that are the biggest contributors of e-waste include Tamil Nadu (13%), Uttar Pradesh (10.1%), West Bengal (9.8%), Delhi (9.5%), Karnataka (8.9%), Gujarat (8.8%) and Madhya Pradesh (7.6%). Also, the study revealed that Maharashtra recycles only around 47,810 TPA of e-waste.

According to the study, a mere 5% of India’s total e-waste gets recycled. Over 95% of the generated e-waste is managed by unorganized sector and scrap dealers, who mostly utilize primitive methods to dismantle them, thereby causing danger to environment. The study warns that prolonged exposure to chemicals emitted during unsafe e-waste handling leads to serious health disorders.

The current rate of e-waste generation in India is almost 5 times greater than the annual e-waste processing capacity offered by the nation, the study says.