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By:

Dr. Sanjay Joshi

31 August 2024 at 3:05:29 pm

E-Waste: India’s Growing Challenge

What makes e-waste unique is that it is both a challenge and an opportunity. Many people imagine that only large industries or IT companies generate electronic waste. The reality is very different. Every one of us contributes to it. Think about the number of electronic devices you use every day—a mobile phone, laptop, television, refrigerator, washing machine, mixer, microwave oven, electric toothbrush, smartwatch, or even children’s electronic toys. Every home today is filled with electrical...

E-Waste: India’s Growing Challenge

What makes e-waste unique is that it is both a challenge and an opportunity. Many people imagine that only large industries or IT companies generate electronic waste. The reality is very different. Every one of us contributes to it. Think about the number of electronic devices you use every day—a mobile phone, laptop, television, refrigerator, washing machine, mixer, microwave oven, electric toothbrush, smartwatch, or even children’s electronic toys. Every home today is filled with electrical and electronic gadgets. When these products stop working, become outdated, or are replaced by newer models, they enter the growing stream of electronic waste. What was once a useful device can quickly become part of a waste problem that is growing year after year. As our dependence on electronic devices increases, so does the amount of waste they eventually generate. Many of these devices have become so much a part of everyday life that we rarely stop to consider where they go once they are no longer needed. The sources of e-waste are virtually universal. It is generated not only in homes but also in offices, schools and colleges, hospitals, banks, shopping malls, industries, factories, hotels, research laboratories, government departments, and IT companies. In fact, almost every modern workplace or institution uses electronic equipment that will eventually need to be discarded or replaced. Modern vehicles, too, are packed with electronic systems, adding another source of e-waste when they reach the end of their life. In short, wherever electricity and electronics are used, e-waste is eventually generated. India’s remarkable economic growth over the past three decades has transformed the way we live and work. Rapid advances in Information and Communication Technology (ICT), the expansion of the software industry, increasing digital connectivity, and the arrival of multinational electronics manufacturers have made electronic products more affordable and accessible than ever before. From urban apartments to rural households, electronic gadgets have become an essential part of everyday life. This technological revolution has undoubtedly improved our quality of life. Communication has become instantaneous, education has become digital, banking is now at our fingertips, and healthcare increasingly depends on sophisticated electronic equipment. However, every technological success also comes with an environmental responsibility. As more electronic products enter our homes and workplaces, more products also reach the end of their useful life and need to be dealt with responsibly. Another factor contributing to the problem is the shortening lifespan of electronic products. A mobile phone that once lasted five or six years is now often replaced within two or three years—not because it has stopped working, but because a newer model offers better features. The same trend is seen in laptops, televisions, household appliances, and countless other gadgets. The culture of frequent upgrading has significantly increased the volume of e-waste generated every year. Unfortunately, most discarded electronics do not return to the manufacturing cycle. Many are stored in cupboards and storerooms, waiting for a decision that never comes. Others find their way into informal recycling units or are dumped with municipal solid waste, where valuable materials are lost and hazardous substances can contaminate the environment. What appears to be an unwanted old device may therefore contain materials that could otherwise be recovered and reused. What makes e-waste unique is that it is both a challenge and an opportunity. It contains precious metals and valuable materials that can be recovered through scientific recycling. At the same time, it also contains toxic substances that can harm human health and the environment if handled carelessly. The challenge before India is, therefore, not merely to manage the increasing quantities of e-waste but to transform this growing waste stream into a valuable resource. Will continue in the next week. Till then, have a wonderful weekend! (The writer is an environmentalist. Views Personal.)

Hostage City

For a city that prides itself on never stopping, Mumbai has been brought to a grinding halt by the stoppage of one of its most indispensable services. The indefinite strike by employees of the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) undertaking has effectively paralysed the city’s bus network, leaving millions of commuters stranded and exposing deep fissures in the management of one of India’s largest urban transport systems.


BEST ferries around 25 lakh passengers daily through a fleet of nearly 2,800 buses. Yet over the past three days, the city has witnessed the near-total collapse of this network. On the first day of the strike, only a few dozen buses operated. By the weekend, not a single BEST-owned or wet-lease bus was on the roads. Local trains, Metro services, taxis and autorickshaws have been forced to absorb the shock and are predictably straining under the burden.


The strike may be illegal under the Maharashtra Essential Services Maintenance Act (MESMA), and the industrial court may have ordered employees back to work. Yet laws and court orders cannot substitute for sound governance. When a public utility reaches the point where thousands of workers are willing to risk disciplinary action and legal consequences, it signals a failure that predates the strike itself.


The demands raised by the unions are hardly new. Employees have long sought implementation of the Seventh Pay Commission recommendations, settlement of retirement dues, an end to contractualisation and the merger of the BEST budget with that of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation. Whether one agrees with every demand is beside the point. What is striking is that these issues have been allowed to fester for years without a credible roadmap for resolution.


Equally troubling is the government’s reactive approach. Ministers and officials rushed into negotiations only after services collapsed and public inconvenience reached intolerable levels. Such crisis management has become a familiar feature of governance.


The unions, too, must recognise the wider consequences of their actions. Public transport is the bloodstream of a city. Every day the strike continues, daily wage earners lose income and ordinary citizens bear higher travel costs. The disruption disproportionately hurts those who can least afford alternatives. Holding Mumbai hostage may attract attention to legitimate grievances, but also risks eroding public sympathy.


Mumbai has spent years celebrating new Metro corridors, coastal roads and grand infrastructure projects. Yet the humble bus remains the most affordable and accessible mode of transport for millions. Policymakers often treat BEST as an ageing institution to be managed rather than a vital public service to be strengthened. The increasing reliance on contract workers and wet-lease operations may reduce immediate costs, but also weakens institutional stability and labour relations.


A city of Mumbai’s scale cannot afford a public transport system perpetually balanced on the edge of financial distress, labour unrest and administrative uncertainty. Nor can it depend on emergency measures whenever disputes arise.

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