E-waste is relatively newer term in India. An average Indian would be very oblivious to the term E-waste, leave alone the proper understanding of the harm these cause to our health and environment.
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There has been little or no effort from the Government and the concerned authorities to create awareness about the nature and magnitude of E-Wastes. The Government can be forgiven for its apathy whence it promulgates rules about E-Waste and makes responsible the stakeholders like the producers and handlers of e-waste to create awareness on the issue. Since it is the lives and common future of all citizens at stake we need to make efforts to educate ourselves and create awareness amongst our social circles.
What is E — Waste?
To contain the grave issue we need to know first what constitutes an E — Waste and other important terms associated with it.
E-waste is the waste electrical and electronic equipment, whole or in part or rejects from their manufacturing and repair process, which are intended to be discarded.
Orphaned Products — Non-branded or assembled electrical and electronic equipment produced by a company, which has closed its operations or has stopped product support.
Electrical and electronic equipment means equipment, which is dependent on electrical currents or electro-magnetic fields to be fully functional.
The Environment Ministry brought in the E — Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 2011 which became effective from May 2012 in India. These rules have brought in its purview categories of electrical and electronic equipment which contribute to E-Waste.
These categories can be enumerated as under:
IT and telecommunication equipment:
- Centralized data processing; Mainframes, Minicomputers; Personal computing; Personal computers (Central processing unit with input and output devices), Laptop computers (Central processing unit with input and output devices), Notebook computers, Notepad computers, Printers including cartridges, Copying equipment, Electrical and electronic typewriters, User terminals and systems, Facsimile, Telex, Telephones, Pay telephones, Cordless telephones, Cellular telephones, Answering systems
Consumer electronics:
- Television sets (including sets based on (Liquid Crystal Display and Light Emitting Diode technology), Refrigerator, Washing Machine, Air-Conditioners excluding centralized air conditioning plants.
If you have any of the above at home or work place kept in a discarded form you have an E-Waste at home. It is very important for you to separate these and hand it over to an authorized E-Waste recycler like Zero Waste in your city.
You may find a Zero Waste Store near you where you can sell them profitably and also become a responsible citizen. To know more Connect with us today at info@getinstacash.in | www.getinstacash.in
Note: This post was originally published in February 2015 and has been completely revamped and updated for accuracy and comprehensiveness.