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Electronic waste Generation in India

Posted by Bhavesh Jha on October 22, 2012 at 4:23am

The increasing economic growth and changing consumption trends world wide have resulted in a significant rise in the disposable incomes and consumers’ propensity to spend. The advancement in technology and changing lifestyle, status or perception of consumers has driven this demand of electronic items. Consumers’ dependency on information and communication technology has been increasing very rapidly. The new innovations in information technology because of the rising demand for higher efficiency and productivity in the businesses and work have become a matter of day to day life. Technologies which were new yesterday have become obsolete for today. The increase in demand for “White Goods segment” i.e. on consumer durables such as television sets, microwave ovens, calculators, air-conditioners, servers, printers, scanners, cellular phones, computers etc. is for obvious. Thus, there can be broad range of waste electric and electronic goods which have outlived their use, ready for disposal. These contain chemical materials considered hazardous for human well beings and natural environment.The increasing rate of waste electronic products and additionally the illegal import of junk electronics from abroad create a complex scenario for solid waste management in India.

 

According to Ministry of environment and forest, E-waste is such waste comprises of wastes generated from used electronic devices and household appliances which are not fit for their original intended use and are destined for recovery, recycling or disposal.

 

Indian Scenario

The Indian electronic waste industry is booming at a very rapid pace. It is expected to be increasing at a rate of 20% annually. With increasing per capita income, changing life styles and revolutions in information and communication technologies, India is the second largest electronic waste generator in Asia. India is generating around 4, 00,000 tones of electronic waste per year according to Ministry of Environment and Forest MoEF.  Not only this, it gets around 50,000 tones of e waste through illegal means of imports. According to a report on electronics market, TATA Strategic Management Group says that India is expected to have 11% share in global electronic market. MoEF’2012 report says that Indian electronic waste output has jumped 8 times in the last seven years i.e. 8, 00,000 tones now. India has majorly two types of electronic waste market called organized and unorganized market. 90% of the electronic waste generation in the country lands up in the unorganized market. And out of this only 5.7 % of e waste is recycled. Electronic waste accounts for 70% of the overall toxic wastes which are currently found in landfills which is posing toxic chemical contamination in soil and other natural resources. Another report from Central Pollution Control Board CPCB says that around 36,165 hazardous waste generating industries in India accounts for 6.2 million tones of toxic wastes every year. Indian PC industry is growing at a rate of 25% annually as per MAIT study.

Out of the total electronic waste generation in India, only 40 % of these are taken into the recycling processes and rest 60% remains in warehouses due to inefficient and poor collection systems. Generally, people hand over electronic waste to unauthorized recycling centres/ scrap dealers etc. for quick money. The e-waste scrap is managed through various management alternatives such as reuse of equipment from second hand dealers, back yard recycling (manual dismantling and segregation into plastic, glass and metal) and finally into the municipal dumping yard. 

MAIT (Manufacturers Association for Information Technology) study says that waste from discarded electronics will rise dramatically in the developing world within a decade, with computer waste in India alone to grow by 500 per cent from 2007 levels by 2020. Over 100,000 tonnes from refrigerators, 275,000 tonnes from TVs, 56,300 tonnes from personal computers, 4,700 tonnes from printers and 1,700 tonnes from mobile phone.

Techno-Trash

The electronic waste due to Computer waste also called techno trash is becoming most significant of all e-waste due to the quantity as well as the fast generation rate. The computer hardware sector has displayed an unusual growth in the past few years maintaining pace with the rapid growth in the software sector. The continuous innovations and technological up gradations in the hardware segment, obsolescence risk remains a key area of concern for companies that have made huge investments in their IT systems.

Management

Managing Electronic waste has become a very big challenge.  The governments and private organisation will have to play a crucial and responsible role in order to properly manage electronic waste. Proper inventorisation and management has been very necessary in order to reduce the negative impacts of e waste in human livelihood and maintain prosperity in society. It could be made possible through the consultation with different E-waste experts and the assessment of unorganised small scale industrial houses. Different awareness programmes and reach to the local level unorganised sector recyclers can play a pivotal role in efficiently managing e waste.

 

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What is a Sustainable Hospital

Posted by AMIT GANGULY on October 9, 2012 at 4:21am
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Image - Sustainable Healthcare
 
Why Green/Sustainable Hospitals ?
> The American Hospitals Association has estimated that approximately Six thousand Six hundred tonnes of waste is generated by hospitals per day.
> Hospitals generate hazardous and non-hazardous waste, air emissions, and waste-water
that contribute to air, water, and soil pollution.
> Hospitals are Energy Intensive buildings and single largest users of Chemicals.
 
Thus, by implementing an Green/Sustainable management systems, healthcare facilities can prevent pollution, and analyze and potentially address the Ecological impacts of their  services.
 
What are the Factors that contribute to the Environmental Impact of a Hospital ?
When comparing Ecological footprints of different hospitals the following factors come into picture - 
> Size of the Hospital,Number of Beds,Age of the Establishment;
> Types of Medical treatment provided;
> Types of Research and Teaching conducted;
> Third party vendors,Outsourcing of Services
> Level of Infrastructure development for the local community
 
In general, large hospitals consume more resources and produce more emissions than small
ones. However, as hospitals add beds their per-bed water and energy demands  also
increases.

 
What are the Key areas for Potential Improvements ?
> Hazardous Substances 
Some Hazardous substances of potential risk are - heavy metal based compound containing Silver,lead,copper and cadmium ; reactive and explosive substances such as Azides and Peroxide compounds such as Perchloric acids; Anesthesia Gases and Formaldehyde.  
For Receiving, Handling, Storing and Disposal written procedures must be present.Staff should be trained on how to safely use potentially hazardous substances. Moreover, highly Hazardous Substances such as Benzene,Mercury etc,can often be replaced with less Hazardous substances such as Toulene or Xylene.
 
> Waste Management 
The prime criteria for Waste management should be Avoidance ->Re-Use ->Recycling -> Proper Disposal, in the same order. For example, establishing a Surplus Usage program between Hospitals or Different Business facilities can help in Usage of Surplus Chemicals between the organizations. Moreover Wastes such as Paper,Card boards,Scrap Metals,Electronic Scraps,textiles,Office left overs can be Recycled and Re-used. Recyclable materials should be collected in areas where they accumulate and then delivered to central storage areas to be prepared for transportation. 
 
> Energy Management
As Hospitals use most of the Energy Guzzling equipment's such as Air Conditioners,lot of energy is wasted. The air-conditioning services and indoor lighting account for about 60 per cent and 20 per cent respectively of total electricity consumption. The Energy Management team should - Audit Energy Usage;Identify Areas and Equipment's consuming Maximum Energy;Development Energy Management plan and Implement it.

Combined heat and power systems can reduce energy use by simultaneously generating electricity (and/or mechanical energy) and thermal energy. They recover waste heat and reduce energy use. Energy Efficient lighting methodology can be used such as replacing g incandescent (bulbs) with fluorescent lamps;Solar panels can greatly reduce the amount of fossil fuel used.

> Emission Management

Emissions caused by Sterilizers such as Ethylene Oxide gas should be minimized.Sterilization using ethylene oxide gas, and formaldehyde gas is environmentally hazardous, and a health risk for employees. 
Emissions caused by Anesthetic Gases such as Nitrous Oxide, Haloethane reacts in the stratosphere with atomic oxygen to form NOx which, in turn, breaks down Ozone. Emissions levels by usage of such compounds should be regularly checked so as to prevent Non -Controlled Emissions such as through leakages etc.
Emissions caused by Incinerators include Dioxins, toxic ash residue  that affect the local environment. Such facilities should be built with inbuilt treatment plants so as to control the emission discharge.
 
What are the Key Features of Environmental Management System for Health Care Facilities ?

A healthcare facility should commit to improving its environmental performance by encouraging all employees to actively strive to reduce pollution, improve performance and cut costs.

Using an EMS a Health care Facility can - 
> Identify and Reduce Emission problems,
> Reduce energy, water and waste disposal costs,
> Control the Handling of Hazardous Substances,
> Comply with the Applicable regulations and law,
> Reduce operating costs
> Conduct Environmental Friendly Purchase and Procurement
 
Conclusion
Thus, to become a Green Health Care facility involves many aspects such as Green Building design, Energy Efficiency Plan,Hazardous Substance and Waste Management. LEEDS provide internationally recognized certification system for Green Facilities. Hospitals should strive for such established platforms through different levels of certifications - Platinum,Silver and Gold. It is administered that instead of Opting for Cost Intensive Green Features, Hospitals opt start off with Smaller initiatives that show immediate results and then build on their success.
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