Toxic and hazardous substances in e-waste such as lead, cadmium, mercury, PVC, arsenic, barium, beryllium and brominated flame retardants etc has made it a global issue.
Where there are no effective ways of collecting e waste and managing its dangerous constituents, some finds its way onto the scrap market, where it is recycled, using highly polluting technologies. Other e-waste ends up in landfill sites with a high risk to the environment and creating a health hazards for both humans and animals.
Such concerns make the development of a national E-Waste policy a priority. This needs to set out methods for the safe disposal of e-waste and take into account stakeholder interests – the ordinary citizen and industry practitioners.
The Tamil Nadu has recently formulated an e-waste policy to deliver comprehensive Environmentally Sound Management (ESM) of e-waste. The policy aims to address the gorwth in public health and environmental issues because of the failure to deal effectively with the disposal of e-waste.
The new policy intends to educate the public and officials on how to minimise the need for recycling electronic equipment. It also identifies the roles and responsibilities of all stakeholders in contributing to the reduction of e-waste generation and the implementation of a system for collection, segregation and recycling.