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Special: Gear-up for e-waste terror

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Deepa
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BANGALORE, INDIA: How many of you have shoved a floppy or disc into your office dust-bin or discarded an empty battery or fluorescent lamp into your house’s, after use? Ever gone for a second thought before grabbing the latest model in the market, (this scene has undergone a major shift once recession settled in, however the damage has been already done, so it still makes sense), in exchange of your not-so-old handset, or discarded one that’s no more functional taking it for granted that these scraps will be taken care of by the people responsible?

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True, products are to be discarded once they reach the end of their lifecycle, it makes sense. However, these are not ordinary 'wastes' or bio-degradable ones to be disposed-off in such a manner either.

Though not intended, Samsung’s recent advertisement, ‘What Next’, literally brought in the very thought to the fore. Samsung in its gimmick to vow youngsters unintentionally jerked up an issue that has been jolting India for a while now.

Though many of us are still in state of sublime carelessness, blissfully ignorant of the fact that every time an electronic/electric brand adds the latest edition to its existing product line, thousands of others are either being sidelined or added to the already rotting pile of scrap, the e-wastes.

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Electronic/Electric waste or simply e-waste

But then, is it as simple as it sounds? Read through to find out how this growing terror has creeped through our backyards into our lives and grown to be one of the worst fears in human history, in no time.

E-wastes are electronic/electric products that have reached the end of their lifecycle and become obsolete.

Braodly classified as:

*Small house-hold appliances, such as vacuum cleaner, toaster, fryer, clock, batteries, etc.

*Large house hold appliances, such as refrigerators, washing machine, microwave, etc.

*IT & telecommunication equipments, such as PC, printers, all kinds of telephones, calculator, CD ROM, DVD etc. *Consumer equipments, such as radio, TV, musical instruments, camera, etc. Lighting equipments, such as CFL, bulbs, tubes, etc.

*Medical testing instruments, such as cardiology, pulmonary etc.

*Electrical and electronics tools, and

*Ships, war ships and goods ships that come to Indian shores for dismantling.

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E-Waste: Bit of facts and figures

Awareness levels in terms of what to be done with electronic/electrical wastes is very low at all levels, in India

E-waste: The trauma of backyard recycling

Authorised e-waste recyclers in India are engaged only in dismantling and pre-processing e-waste. Whereas, for the final metal recovery and disposal of toxic chemicals, these organisation pass on the buck to either international smelters

E-wastes: They too call for a 'burial'

This time around e-wastes need a proper burial

E-Waste: The greener way

The West has to stop 'donating' its e-wastes and start washing their dirty linens on their own

Innovate at design stage to tackle e-waste

India today has become an abode for this mounting scrap, called e-waste. It is high time to dig deep into this disorder and try to clean the dirt!