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E-Waste Management: A Case Study of Bangalore, India

Article · October 2009

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Research Journal Environmental and Earth Sciences 1(2): 111-115, 2009
ISSN: 2041-0492
© M axwell Scientific Organization, 2009
Submitted Date: September 17, 2009 Accepted Date: October 08, 2009 Published Date: October 30, 2009

E-Waste Management: A Case Study of Bangalore, India

P.K. Jatindra and K. Sud hir
Department of Biotechnology and Bioinformatics, Jaypee University of Information Technology,
Waknaghat, Solan (H P), 1732 15, In dia

Abstract: The management and recycling of E-waste was assessed in the city of Bangalore (India) based on
rapid grow ing w aste stream, w aste va luable resources, hazardous substances and low recycling rate. F or this
purpose, the personal computer was defined as the tracer and accordingly a model was designed. The model
depicts the life cycle of tracer, from production to consumption-including reuse and refurbishment-to material
recovery in the formal recycling industry. The process of data collection for the study involved field survey and
analy sis of the available data. T he an alysis of data could highlight the strategy for the m anag eme nt of E-waste
in the city. In this context, the study intends to reduce the environmental and health impacts from unscientific
E-w aste management and for understanding o f E-w aste co llection, flow, rec ycling. All in all E -waste
management in Bangalore has moved forward in many ways and can now serve as a model for other cities and
state in the country.

Key words: Upgrading and refurbishing, personal computer (PC), Hazardous substances, Precious metals and
E-waste recycling.

INTRODUCTION retardant (typically 1-2% by w eight) (D evi et al., 2004).

Recycling of electronic w aste takes care of bo th waste
Consumer oriented grow th com bined with rapid treatment and valuable material recovery and hence has
product obsolescence and technological advances are new both ecological and economic relevance. Precious metals
environmental challenge - the growing threat of recovered from E -waste hav e a w ide application in the
“Electronics W aste” or “E-waste” that consists of obsolete manu facture of electronic appliances, serving as contact
electronic devices. E-waste is a complex mixture of Ag, materials due to their chemical stability and their good
AU, Pb an d Pt as precious metals; Cu, Al, Ni, Si, Zn and conduction properties. On a broader scale, analyzing the
Fe as base metals; Hg, Be, Cd, Cr (VI), As, Sb and Bi as environmental and societal impacts of E-waste reveals a
metals of concern due to their toxicity along w ith mixture of benefits and costs (Alastair, 2004 ). Proponents
halogens and combu stible (plastics, flame retardants) of E-waste recycling claim that greater emp loym ent, new
many of which are toxic (Hagelüken and Art, 2006). E- access to raw materials and electronics, and improved
waste has been a problem of great concern not only for infrastructure will result due to E-waste recycling activity.
the governm ent bu t also for the pub lic due to their This will further improve the region’s progress towards
hazardous material contents (Cui and Forssberg, 2003; prosperity.
Niu and Li, 2007). Currently, the main options for the This study focuses to documen t existing sources of E-
treatment of electronic waste are involved in reuse, waste stream s along the life cycle including product
remanufacturing and recycling, as well as incineration and assembly, pre and post usag e, manageme nt and disposal
land filling . and identify to improved prac tices based on E-w aste
The hierarchy of treatment of E-waste encourages collection, flow and recycling system in Bangalore city of
reuse of whole equipment first, remanufacturing and India.
upgradation, then recovery of materials by recycling
techniques, and as a last resort, dispo sal by incineration METHODS
and land filling. However land filling of E-wastes can
lead to the leaching of lead into the ground water. If the This study wa s c onducte d in the month of March,
CRT is crushed and burned, it emits toxic fumes into the 2009 in the Banglore city of India. Apart from survey and
air (Ramachandra and Saira, 200 4). All electronic data collection in the city, outer reaches of it like
equipments contain printed circuit boards w hich are Banglore Rural District and Dob aspet Industrial area were
hazardous because of their content of lead (in solder), also chosen for assessment of current practices followed
brominated flame retardants (typically 5-10% by w eight) in the E-waste management. Bangalore is the information
and antimony oxide, which is also present as a flame technology hub of India hav ing more than 1700 IT

Corresponding Author: K. Sudhir, Department of Biotechnology and Bioinformatics, Jaypee University of Information
Technology, Waknaghat, Solan (HP), 173215, India
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 Res. J. Environ. Earth Sci., 1(2): 111-115, 2009

companies generating 8,000 tonnes of E-waste annually.

For this study the tracer item chosen was the personal
computer (PC). A tracer item in this context stands for an
electrical or electronic item which is surveyed along its
whole life span, from the cradle to the grave. The
definition of one tracer item PC represents all sorts of
PCs. Reliable statistics of measurable recycling practices
and the high dynamics in the information technology
sector were reasons for the decision to use the PC as a
tracer.
The assessment strategy followed a certain order:
Players and stakeh olders of the E -waste recycling stream
were identified including consumers, traders, repair shops,
dissemblers, scrap dealers and dismantlers. Qualitative
research involved semi-structured in-depth interviews
with the formal E-waste recyclers present in Bangalore:
(a) Ash recyclers (b) E-Parisaraa. One-to-one interviews Fig 1: Material flow of the pre-recycling processes of the tracer
were cond ucted to gather inform ation w ith respe ct to item personal computer within the system border
following areas: Bangalore.

C Detailed understand ing of each stage: Sourcing, which enter the market by being sold after having their
Log istics, Processin g of E-waste functionality checked. Fig. 1 shows the material flow of
C Current handling capacities the pre-recycling processes whereas Fig. 2 shows the
C Status of technology being used currently and post-recycling processes. The process “Recycling” links
challenges faced the two section s of the system and at the same time
symbolizes a “point of no return”. After entering the
RESULTS “Recycling” proce ss, no items, comp onents or m aterials
even return directly to the pre-recycling processe s.
A field study and personal intera ction w ith mem bers The post recycling process adopted is simple and
from formal recyclers produced a model. The survey having minimum landfill options without incineration. In
results are presented first, followed by the model general, mechanical and recov ery op erations are being
calculations and material flow analysis. carried out. Mechanical operations include: manual
dismantling, segregation, pulverizing and density
Field Survey and Material Flow Analysis: Ban galore is separation in an ecofriendly mann er, while recov ery
generating around 12,000 tons of E-waste (from operations are carried ou t separa tely for metals, glass, and
computers and p eriphe rals) per year. T his estim ate is plastics.
based on information received from recyclers in
Bangalore and fro m the fact that 30% of all equ ipment in E-w aste Managem ent at Organizational Le vel: Bharat
IT industry beca me ob solete every year and end up as E- Electronics Ltd., (BEL) set-up to meet the specialized
waste. Representatives from two governments authorized electronic needs of the Indian defense services, has been
recyclers Ash recyclers and E-Parisaraa have conducted the first public sector company to initiate E-waste
surveys in the field of WEEE recycling, and the authors man agem ent. The public sector companies have recently
participated in this discourse. The resulting model (Fig. 1, initiated a prog ramm e to manag e E-w aste. E-waste is
2) shows a chain of process through which the tracer item segregated into four categories namely-
PC was follow ed. The system is divided into two sections:
pre- and post-recycling processes. Five percent of the C Compu ter and Compu ter peripherals
items produced are rejected and go directly into the C PCBs (printed circuit boards) and electronic
“Recycling” process. The field assessment of this study com ponents
revealed the existence of a vital refurbishing and C Electrical wires/cables, cut wires
upgrading industry, dealing exclusively with used C All oth er electronic equipm ents
personal computers. The numbers of flow from the
“Repair” to “Traders” processes include the upgrading of The segregated waste is recycled at authorized E-
PCs with faster processors, increase in ha rd disc mem ory waste recycling facilities in Bangalore. As per
or other replacement of whole components. The reuse of government regulations, tenders are called for the sale of
com ponents (flow from “Reuse” to “Traders”) depicts the this E-waste. Earlier all authorized scrap d ealers were
recyc ling of components- such as IC processing chips, invited to take part in the tender. In the present situation
mem ory cards, capacitors or other individual components- the tender is restricted to only autho rized E -waste

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 Res. J. Environ. Earth Sci., 1(2): 111-115, 2009

Fig 2: Post recycling processes for the tracer item personal computer

recyclers. In addition to the public sector, large private the depa rtmen t made it clear that the hazardo us w aste
companies including the multinationals used the auctions rules are currently sufficient to address the safe disposal
to dispose their E-waste. At the same time, there are large and recycling of E-w aste. The ind ustries are bou nd to
public sector organizations that are engaged in the dispose of the E-waste to a proper recycler wh o is
manu facture of various electronic components and authorized by the KSPCB or to find a pro per land fill.
telecomm unica tion equipm ent. None of the leg islations objects to sale o f E-w aste to
authorized bodies but selling to scrap dealers that do not
Role and status of stakeholders’ invo lvement: have an authorization from the KSPCB is against the law.
Bangalore has emerged as a key city, which has identified Bangalore has three authorized E-waste recy cling units. A
the different stake holde rs and is mak ing de man ds to tracking system is also on place whereby waste disposed
ensure that attention is given to E-waste and its proper through the authorized vendors is documented under the
hazardous waste rules. KSPCB has also made it
management and d isposal. Currently three main
mand atory for all new establishments seeking Consent for
stakeholde rs have been iden tified. Name ly
Establishment (CFE) to comply w ith E-waste regulations.
All large companies in Bang alore are now well aw are
C The Government- agencies associated with E-w aste
about the regulations regard ing safe disposal of E-waste.
that include Karnataka State Pollution Control Board
Similar initiatives are requ ired pro mptly from other
(KSP CB ), Bruhat B engaluru M ahan agar P allike pollution control board agencies of different states.
(BBMP), Department of Information Technology,
Government of Karnataka Genera tors: The co rporate sector and government
C The Ge nerators (mainly producers and consumers) institutions contribute largely to E-wa ste in the form of IT
C The Recy clers (Both formal and informal recyclers) equipment. In add ition educational institutions and
households are also significant contributors. Within the
Government agencies: The Karnataka State pollution corporate sector the hardware companies been looked at
Control Board (KSP CB) has the responsibility for with special interest since they are required to take
enforcement of the rules and legislation. Discussions with responsibility for the generation of E-waste.

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E-w aste is also generated from the small and medium

scale enterprises (SMEs) that manufacture compone nts.
These SMEs also act as suppliers to the large
multinationals. In Karnataka there are 2,000 SMEs
engaged in various different manufacturing activities
including manufacture of components for the electrical
and electronics ind ustry. It is also noted that S M Es
generate E-waste not just from man ufacturing but also
contribute through extensive use of electronic equipm ent.
If the serv ice sec tor is included then the potential for
generation of E-waste is huge. Most large IT companies
in Ban galore have introdu ced w ell-defined E-waste
management systems including identification, segregation
and safe disposal of E-waste.

Recyclers: There are tw o type s of recyclers in Bang alore

that play important role for managing the E-waste; (a)
formal recyclers, (b) informal recyclers. Out of the two,
the formal recyclers handle maximum E-waste recycling. Fig 3: Computer composition based on the research on
E-Parisaraa, Ash recyclers are the two major formal material recovery from E-waste conducted at E-
recyclers and m any big names as their custom ers. Th is Parisaraa company, Banglore
included HP, IBM , GE, Intel, Motorola, ABB, Philips,
Sony etc. the shredders signaling the start of mechanical stage. The
Informal recyclers possess remarkable skills, which shredder materials, laden with precious m etals, are then
sent to smelting refineries for extraction of these metals.
include the ability to recognize different types of raw
The only technology being used for E-w aste rec ycling in
materials. They are also meticulous in their recovery of
Bangalore is the shredding/pulverizing technology
this material from even small components. But the
followed by py rometallurgical and hydrometallurgical
informal units usually operate witho ut a licen se in process. There is a need to develop a cost effective
residential areas and pose a threat to the surrounding technology for extraction of precious metals and for
environment and com munities. The informal recyclers disposal of hazard ous m etals.
should have training cum awareness prog ramm e on safe In the last decade, attentions have been removed from
E-w aste recycling procedures in the existing government pyrometallurgical process to hydrometallurgical process
recognized E-waste recycling units. for recovery of metals from electronic waste.
Hydrometallurgical processing techniques include cyanide
Material Recovery from E-waste: As an example of the leaching, halide leaching, thiourea leaching, and
case study from our field data, Fig. 3 shows the material thiosulfate leaching of precious m etals. This process also
recovery from one ton E-waste conducted at E-Parisaraa, faces environmental issues and less efficiency in recycling
Bangalore. Fig. 3 shows the typical com puter w aste of precious metals.
composition per one ton. Glass is 20% by weight; plastics
are 23% by weight followed by metals 57% . Metals are DISCUSSION
recovered from printed circuit boards, cables, non-ferrous
metals and ferrous metals. Out of one ton computer waste, Reuse of end-of- life (EOL) electronic equipment has
first priority on the management of electronic waste since
99% is used for recovery of precious metals and another
the usable lifespan of equipment is extended in a
1% for safe land filling. There is no statistical data for
second ary market, resulting in reduction of the volume of
recovery of metals by informal recyclers.
treated waste stream . Recycling of electronic w aste is
another important subject not only from the point of w aste
Status of Technology, Challenges and Innovative treatment but also from the recovery of valuable metals.
Options: It was found that current recycling operations of The value distribution for personal computer shows that,
these comp anies are limited only to pre-processing of E- the precious metal make up more than 70% of the value.
waste material. The processes used are a combination of This indicates that the major economic driver for
manual and mechanical processes, in which manual recyc ling of electronic waste is from the recovery of
processes forms a large part. It was also noticed that precio us metals and their industrial applica tion.
formal recyclers have a permission to establish a
recycling plant and consent to export metals to approved CONCLUSION
smelters globally.
The companies use thermal shock techniques for From the result it was found that, the refurbishing and
separation process followed by feeding the E-w aste into upgrading of personal compu ters and monitors constitute

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one of the key drivers of the pre-recycling processes. REFERENCES

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AKNOWLEDGEMENT

The autho rs thank to MoEF (M inistry of Environment and

Forest) of India, for funding the project on impact
assessment and bioleaching of E-waste.

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