We are on the Earthship, making annual treks around the sun and we are navigating through space, the final frontier. The only difference is all the strange species we are supposed to encounter, both hostile and friendly are right here on our ship and we hardly notice them until they are on the endangered list. As for the big holes in our atmosphere, we are oblivious to it unless some environmental "extremists" start throwing water balloons and smashing windows at the G-8 and other economic summits. We are amused and maybe some of us will pause and ponder for a bit but that is it. We then pretend to be deaf while environmentalists keep screaming until they go hoarse.

In trekkie talk, we have lost our shields and are under attack but are doing nothing to protect ourselves! We must be the only species, which even though it has the capability to halt destruction chooses to ignore the mass extinction that takes place around it. Luckily, the Federation (United Nations) seems to think it is important enough. June 5 is observed worldwide as World Environment Day.

The e-Waste Story
Fifteen years ago, while visiting Kolkata for the first time, I saw at least hundred high school children protesting on the banks of the Hoogly river. I didn't know what to think as they were shouting in Bengali and waving their arms. I realised they were protesting but what? I asked one of the onlookers as I had a petition thrust into my face. The woman said, "The government has leased a portion of the river to somebody for fishing exclusively. The children are saying this is not correct and that the river belongs to all the people of Kolkata and the fish too. They are sending a petition to the state government asking them to withdraw the agreement and want you to sign it." I was amazed at the children's awareness. Today, I am wondering where everybody is when I read Greenpeace Reports of how India is one of the world's dumping grounds of e-waste apart from one of the major manufacturers of e-waste.

However, what does this have to do with techies like you? Everything. The Year 2007 marks the 25th anniversary of the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition (SVTC), which is composed of high-tech workers, community members, police, emergency personnel, and environmentalists. SVTC was formed after they discovered ground water contamination in Silicon Valley, especially near hi-tech manufacturing companies. While India can boast of its IT industry, there is almost no awareness or movement on how to deal with the over 150,000 tons of e-waste that India generates annually. Unlike China which enacted a law that banned dumping, and unlike Switzerland where the government collects the e-waste and recycles it, or the developed countries where citizens are well informed about e-waste and its hazards, educated Indians, including techies, are found sorely lacking in awareness about e-waste, and the Indian government has failed to come up with the policy to stop illegal e-waste dumping, or recycle the e-waste generated in India.

What is E-waste? E-waste stands for both electrical and electronic waste. Most people think it is only electronic waste like outdated computers or cell phones. However, it includes outdated electrical appliances used in offices and homes like old refrigerators, washers, driers, radios, televisions, ovens, toasters, drilling machines, fluorescent tubes, electric lawnmowers, etc and electronic equipments like phones, faxes, computers, VCRs, DVDs, CD players, stereos, monitors, mobiles, etc.

Perils and Pit-falls
E-waste is hazardous because most of these equipments contain toxic chemicals that pose significant health and environment hazards. E-waste is usually disposed of in landfills or is incinerated. When it is dumped in landfills (Delhi and Bangalore have e-waste landfills), the toxic chemicals in the products tend to slowly contaminate the surrounding environment and have a dire impact on the communities in the area. If it is burned or incinerated, then heavy metals like mercury, lead and cadmium are released into the air, polluting the food chain, as fish are particularly prone to mercury poisoning. In addition, brominated flame-retardants (BFR) and poly vinyl chloride (PVC) that are present in most mobiles and IT equipment available in the market when burnt, release highly poisonous furans and dioxins.

The import of hazardous waste into India is legally prohibited by a Supreme Court directive in 1997, which follows the Basel Convention. However, India finds herself as the world's largest toxic garbage bin due to illegal dumping, and thanks to inadequate laws to protect workers and the environment.

According to the Greenpeace Report, "In many EU states, for example, plastics from e-waste are not recycled to avoid brominated furans and dioxins being released into the atmosphere. In developing countries, however, there are no such controls. Recycling is done by hand in scrap yards, often by children. e-Waste is routinely exported by developed countries to developing ones, often in violation of the international law. Inspections of eighteen European seaports in 2005 found as much as 47% of waste destined for export, including e-waste, was illegal. In the UK alone, at least 23,000 metric tonnes of undeclared or 'grey' market electronic waste was illegally shipped in 2003 to the Far East, India, Africa and China. In the US, it is estimated that 50-80% of the waste collected for recycling is being exported in this way. We have also found a growing e-waste trade problem in India. Twenty-five Thousand workers are employed at scrap yards in Delhi alone, where 10-20,000 tonnes of e-waste is handled each year, 25% of this being computers. Other e-waste scrap yards have been found in Meerut, Ferozabad, Chennai, Bangalore, and Mumbai."

According to the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board, "it is estimated that the amount of e-waste generated in Bangalore each month is roughly 10,000 tonnes." This means Bangalore alone produces an astonishing 120,000 tonnes of e-waste each year. This includes both western scrap and locally discarded e-waste.

Managing e-Waste
Developed countries like the US, which has not signed the Basel Convention that stops illegal trade in e-waste, and some corporations in South East Asia and Europe "recycle" trash by sending it to developing countries like India, Pakistan and China. At times, it is done in two stages. The e-waste is sent to transit countries like Singapore where companies accept the trash for money from the countries and then dump it by prior agreement with local corporations in countries like India. In other cases, e-waste is directly shipped to India, China, etc in the form of "donations of computers" or in pretending to obtain "reusable equipment" from developed nations, according to the Basel Action Network.

In many developed countries, companies have producer responsibility for managing e-waste and in some countries only those that are free of BFR and PVC can be sold (like all Nokia phones produced after 2005 is PVC free). Due to consumer pressure or law enacted by the government, in some countries, companies are required to declare their e-waste management policy, and in others are required to take back their outdated products. It is something like selling old newspapers to agents for recycling.

Way Forward
It is time we take note, create awareness among our communities, form anti-toxic coalitions and also reuse our own generated e-waste instead of dumping them. The Delhi-based environmental NGO, Toxic Links is a start but a lot more needs to be accomplished and this cannot be done without the help of the Indian engineers and techies. Engineers and techies need to support the environment NGOs in our areas and get involved in stopping e-waste creators and profiteers. We need to be as active as those Kolkata high school children were and as vociferous. Also, we have to demand implementation of the SC directive on e-waste and practice reducing e-waste generation and demand/buy products from companies that have an Individual Producer Responsibility Policy, a product take back policy, a product recycle policy that is environment friendly and whose data is accessible to the consumer.

Maybe that is why we need an environment day-to make us aware that our Enterprise is going to the dogs and if we don't do something fast most of the species, including our own, will be on the endangered list. What kind of a world does this leave for our children and grandchildren? We would repair a broken window in our own house but not on our Earthship! Why? The thinking seems to be that others will take of it while I sit in my air-conditioned room, eating 'health' foods, watching 'protests' on TV. Unfortunately, others are doing the same thing as you. It is time for the Indian tech industry to step up, practice green policies, and create awareness about e-waste management. Our Earthship is in need of major repairs and we can ignore them at the peril of our own extinction.

Deepa Kandaswamy
The author is the founder-moderator of the IndianWISE e-group
maildqindia@cybermedia.co.in
The views expressed here are personal
© Deepa Kandaswamy.
© First Indian Serial Rights, CyberMedia 2007. 
Any quotes from this article must link to this article and credit both author Deepa Kandaswamy and Dataquest.
This article may not be distributed in any manner without written consent from the author.

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