Refurbished tech, to manage e-waste

Mobile phones, computer monitors, motherboards, television sets, refrigerators, chargers and other electronic equipment eventually end up as e-waste. Globally, over 45 million tonnes of e-waste is generated every year, and this is expected to grow to 52.2 million tonnes in two years. India is among the five biggest producers of e-waste. Disposing e-waste safely can be challenging as such waste contains minerals, metals, plastics and chemical additives. The environmental cost of manufacturing electronic products cannot be mitigated by recycling alone.

The most important reason recycling is an ineffective way to manage e-waste is that, at the most, only 5% of such waste is recycled. Over 95% of e-waste in India finds its way to scrap dealers who, with little regard for the environment or safety of workers, extract the most valuable components from such waste.