As the E-waste production in India is expected to hit 3 million tons by the end of this year, it has been found that 15 percent of the amount is contributed by Indian households. This could be anything from an old computer, a mobile phone or dead batteries that are no longer used. Of the 17 percent e-waste dumped by households, 50 percent are electronic goods that are over 5 years old.
According to a survey conducted by Cerebra Green and MAIT, 8 out of 10 Indians are aware of e-waste and the necessity of special measures to dispose of the same. However, the 50 percent of the participants in the survey admitted to having an unused device of over 5 years old lying around in their house and a significant 28 percent having devices that are 3-4 years old.
5 out of the 10 participants also revealed that they have at least 2 old devices that are no longer used while 20 percent of them even admitted to having more 5 unused electronic devices at their home.
68 percent of those surveyed informed that they had never disposed of their e-waste by giving it to the local waste collector that is reflected by the fact that 72 percent of these participants informed that waste collectors in their area never collected e-waste. Almost 90 percent of these users are thus forced to dispose of their e-waste when there’s an exchange offer going on at an online store or a local electronics outlet.
A large part of the crowd, precisely 82 percent agreed that they had never disposed of white good like ACs, microwaves and refrigerators with 40 percent of them revealing that they still use their more than 5-year-old refrigerators.
While those were bits and parts of a traumatic future ahead, there were some good reflections too. Over 82 percent of the survey participants were willing to give away their e-waste to dedicated e-waste collectors if they’re convinced that waste will be properly handled without causing any more damage to nature.
Delhi scored the highest in e-waste awareness followed by Bangalore and Hyderabad. Chennai, Pune and Delhi also contribute to people giving away their e-waste to unorganised local pickers. Among all major cities, it was Bangalore and Hyderabad which were highly interested to give their e-waste to e-waste collectors for free if the waste is being disposed of safely not polluting the environment.