Dr. Sanjay Joshi

If a company makes and sells an electronic product, it should also take responsibility for what happens to that product when it becomes waste. As we have seen, electronic waste is not just about discarded phones, computers and other devices. It is also about what happens to them after they are thrown away and the environmental and health risks that can arise when they are not handled properly. Over the years, India has introduced rules to bring some order to the way e-waste is collected,...

The challenge is not to push the informal sector aside, but to make it safer, more organised and environmentally responsible. Continuing from last week’s article, the informal sector cannot simply be viewed as part of the problem. It also plays a major role in collecting and recovering discarded electronics. Repair shops, used-product dealers and vendors operating through e-commerce platforms channel significant amounts of discarded electronics back into the economy. Devices may be repaired...

In the absence of enough authorised recycling facilities, even unauthorised units are filling a vital gap. Seelampur, on the outskirts of Delhi, is almost like a huge marketplace for discarded technology. Old laptops, broken mobile phones, outdated computers and damaged monitors are piled up everywhere. The narrow, crowded lanes are filled with the constant sounds of hammers hitting metal, tools scraping against machines and workers shouting instructions. But behind this chaotic marketplace...