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Primary Inventorization of Electronic Waste in Bhopal City

Article in Current World Environment · December 2014

DOI: 10.12944/CWE.9.3.31

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Current World Environment Vol. 9(3), 814-819 (2014)

Primary Inventorization of Electronic Waste in Bhopal City

P.P.S. CHANDEL1, S. SARSAIYA2, S. GAUTAM2, G. SINGH MANDLOI2,
V. NIGAM2 and R. GOUR2

School of Environmental Biology, A.P.S. University, Rewa, Madhya Pradesh, India.

1

2
International Institute of Waste Management (IIWM), Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India.

http://dx.doi.org/10.12944/CWE.9.3.31

(Received: June 19, 2014; Accepted: August 21, 2014)

ABSTRACT

The current practices of e-waste management in India suffer from a number of drawbacks
like the difficulty in inventorization, unhealthy conditions of informal recycling, inadequate legislation,
poor awareness and reluctance on part of the corporate to address the critical issues.The study was
focused onto inventorise the electronic waste of Bhopal city to generate database for future action
plan. The household and business entities, institutions were selected for inventorization of electronic
waste.A total of 150 sets of questionnaires were collected through site visit interviews. Of these,
70 questionnaires were collected from household respondents, and 80 to business entities and
institutions respondents. After the survey, finding showed that total e-waste generated from household
was 822126.6kg/year and from Business entities and institutions was 128853.7 kg/year. The total
amount of e-waste generation annually from Bhopal was 950 MT/year.The findings of the study will
be useful for to build policy framework as well as action plan for their proper management.

Key words: Electronic waste, Hazardous, Heavy metals, Inventorization, Recycling.

INTRODUCTION China already produces about 2.3 million tons of

e-waste domestically, second only to the U.S. with
T h e l a r g e s t a n d fa s t e s t g r o w i n g about three million tons (Young, 2010).
manufacturing industry is the “electronic industry” due
to the tremendous growth in the field of information In India, E-waste is one of the fastest growing
technology all over the world. All electronic and waste streams due to increasing “market penetration”
electrical items such as computers, televisions, in developing countries, “replacement market” in
mobile phones etc. on completion of their useful developed countries and “high obsolescence rate”.
life, are being discarded rapidly and contribute to It contains more than a 1000 different substances,
the huge quantum of e-waste(Robinson, 2009). The which fall under “hazardous” and “non-hazardous”
generation of this e-wastehas grown manifold in the categories (Wath et al, 2010; WHO, 2010). Broadly, it
last two decades and would continue to accelerate consists of ferrous and non-ferrous metals, plastics,
at a fast pace. As the fastest growing component glass, wood and plywood, circuit boards, concrete
of municipal waste across the world, it is estimated and ceramics, rubber and other items. Iron and
that more than 50 million ton(MT) of e-waste is steel constitutes about 50% of the e-waste followed
generated globally every year. In other words, these by plastics (21%), non ferrous metals (13%) and
would fill enough containers on a train to go round other constituents 16%. Non-ferrous metals consist
the world once (Schwarzer et al., 2005). A report of of metals like copper, aluminum and precious
the United Nations predicted that by 2020, e-waste metals like silver, gold, platinum, palladium etc. The
from old computers would jump by 400 per cent on presence of elements like lead, mercury, arsenic,
2007 levels in China and by 500 per cent in India. cadmium, selenium, and hexavalent chromium
815 CHANDEL et al., Curr. World Environ., Vol. 9(3), 814-819 (2014)

and flame retardants beyond threshold quantities up space in the communities it invades and can be
in e-waste classifies them as hazardous waste very harmful to humans and animals. It is of concern
(Widmer et al., 2005; Aizawa et al., 2008). mainly due to the toxicity and carcinogenicity of some
of the substances if processed improperly. In view of
In India, there are 10 States that contribute the ill-effects of hazardous substances of electronic
to 70 per cent of the total e-waste generated, while waste to both environment and health, several
65 cities generate more than 60 per cent of the total countries exhorted the need for a global agreement
e-waste. Among the 10 largest e-waste generating to address the problems and challenges posed by
states, Maharashtra ranks first followed by Tamil hazardous waste. However, the policy level initiatives
Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, regarding E-waste in India is quite rudimentary and
Delhi, Karnataka, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and needs immediate attention. As there is no separate
Punjab. Among the top ten cities generating e-waste, collection of e-waste in India, there is no clear data
Mumbai ranks first followed by Delhi, Bengaluru, and information on the quantity generated and
Chennai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Pune, disposed of each year and the resulting extent of
Surat and Nagpur. environmental risk. The present study was mainly
focused on the inventorization of E-waste namely
The disposal of e-waste is a particular televisions, personal computers, mobile phones,
problem faced in many regions across the globe. refrigerators, air conditioners, washing machines
The useful life of consumer electronic products is from two main group viz., households and business
relatively short, and decreasing as a result of rapid entities & institutions and also determine present
changes in equipment features and capabilities status of E-waste based on source of generation for
(Kang and Schoenung, 2004). Environment and future action plans.
human health is affected by e-waste. E-waste takes

Fig. 1: Inventorization of electronic waste from selected target area of Bhopal city
 CHANDEL et al., Curr. World Environ., Vol. 9(3), 814-819 (2014) 816

MATERIALS AND METHODS than mail surveys. Information on knowledge level,

attitude and practice on use and electrical electronic
Site Selection equipment (EEE) disposal was collected using
The study of e-waste Inventorization questionnaires, provided by International Institute of
was conducted in Bhopal city which is one of the Waste Management (IIWM), Bhopal. The study was
biggest city of central India. The household and covered following categories of electronic waste such
business entities, institutions are the consumers as televisions, personal computers, mobile phones,
of electrical and electronic equipment and also the refrigerators, air conditioners, washing machines
e-waste generators. Hence they were targeted in this for estimations and quantifications of e-waste
study (Fig. 1). The selection of the survey location produced. There were two main target respondents
was based on the population density and also the included in the survey. Thesewerehouseholds and
socioeconomic status of the areas. business entities & institutions. In order to ensure a
higher response rate, face to face interviews were
Field Studies and Data Collection appropriate for data collection. The distribution of
Field data were collected through the e-waste survey questionnaires were started on
questionnaire-based survey and give better result the 1st Feb 2014 and ended on the 30th of April

Fig. 2: E-waste generate from Televisions (TVs) Fig. 3: E-waste generate from Personal
of Bhopal Computer (PCs) of Bhopal

Fig. 4: E-waste generate from mobile phones Fig. 5: E-waste generate from refrigerators of
(MPs) of Bhopal Bhopal

Fig. 6: E-waste generate from air conditioners Fig. 7: E-waste generate from washing
of Bhopal machines of Bhopal
817 CHANDEL et al., Curr. World Environ., Vol. 9(3), 814-819 (2014)

2014. A total of 150 sets of questionnaires were mobile phones, refrigerators, air conditioners,
collected through site visit interviews. Of these, washing machines, waste batteries etc., total
70 questionnaires were collected from household 85 houses were approached out of which 70
respondents, and 80 to business entities and household responded. To date, in these 70 houses
institutions respondents. 72 televisions, 40 personal computers, 150 mobile
phones, 48 refrigerators, 30 air conditioners, and 35
RESULTS washing machines are using.

The Generation of e-waste from Bhopal Out of 11 televisions, 7 computers, 63

city was analyzed by collected the information mobile phones, 3 refrigerators, 2 air conditioners and
on generation of e-waste by direct interview from 4 washing machines were discarded in last five year.
following two sectors. These are: In most of the houses, television, computers, mobile
phones, refrigerators, air conditioners, washing
Generation of electronic waste from machines are in good condition, however if any
households trouble arises, they get it repaired either from service
To collect the information on generation of centers or a person from service centers visits and
e-waste from households by television, computers, rectify the items. In few cases these electrical and

Fig. 8: E-waste generate from waste batteries Fig. 9: Total electronic waste generate per year
of Bhopal from household of Bhopal

Fig. 10: Survey of E-waste generate from Fig. 11: Survey of E-waste generate from
Televisions (TVs) of Bhopal Personal Computer (PCs) of Bhopal

Fig. 12: of E-waste generate from Fig. 13: Survey of E-waste generate from
Mobile Phone (MPs) of Bhopal Refrigerators (fridge) of Bhopal
 CHANDEL et al., Curr. World Environ., Vol. 9(3), 814-819 (2014) 818

electronic equipment have repair needs then they institutions included colleges and universities etc.
repaired or stored in houses or donated to other The e-waste generates from singlebusiness entities
family members or are being replaced. The total and institutions was42.9 kg/year. Here we assumed
population of Bhopal is 23,68,145 and the total that about ~3000 business entities are available in
household in Bhopal is around 287170. The average Bhopal. Hence, we calculated average weight of
weight of electronic waste from single household was 3000 business entities was 128853.7 kg/year.The
estimated to be 2.86 kg.Hence, the total e-waste details are given below in Fig. 10-17.
from total household of Bhopal is around822126.6
kg/year. The details are shown in Fig. 2-9. Assessment of e-waste generation in Bhopal
Total e-waste generated by households in
Generation of electronic waste from Business Bhopal: 822126.6 kg/year
entities and institutions Total e-waste generated business entities and
To collect the information on generation of institutions in Bhopal: 128853.7 kg/year
e-waste from Business entities and institutions by Total amount of e-waste generation annually
television, computers, mobile phones, refrigerators, in Bhopal: 950980.3 kg/year or 950.9 MT/
air conditioners, washing machines, waste batteries Year
etc. In business entities include government
and nongovernment offices, banks, restaurant, DISCUSSION
hotels, and hospitals while in institutions included
schools, colleges and universities etc. Total 100 The rapid growth and faster change in
unit (Business entities and institutions) were modules of electrical and electronic equipment are
approached out of which 80 unit responded. To date, major issue that enhances the amount of e-waste
in these 80 Business entities and institutions, 5375 generation. The hazardous nature of e-waste is one
televisions, 3155 computers, 565 mobile phones, of the rapidly growing environment problems of the
1170 refrigerators, 1301 air conditioners, and 443 world and increasing amount of e-waste associated
washing machines were in used. Business entities with the lack of awareness, appropriate management
include government and nongovernment offices, and skills. At present, solid waste management is a

Fig. 14: Survey of E-waste generate from Air Fig. 15: Survey of E-waste generate from
Conditioners (ACs) of Bhopal Washing Machine (WMs) of Bhopal

Fig. 16: Survey of E-waste generate from waste Fig. 17: Total e-waste generate per year from
batteries of Bhopal Business entities & institutions of Bhopal
 819 CHANDEL et al., Curr. World Environ., Vol. 9(3), 814-819 (2014)

mammoth task in India become more complicated plant in Bhopal region for proper management of
by the invasion of e - waste. e-waste. Otherwise, like other metropolitan cities of
India Bhopal will be face serious problem of e-waste.
At present, Bhopal is a one of the fastest According to M.P. Pollution Control Board survey
economic growing city and education hub of report, Bhopal was estimated to generatearound
central India. Mass population of city spends their 415 MT of electronic waste in 2012.A survey was
money in purchasing of different type electrical and carried out by the Central Pollution ControlBoard
electronic items for entertainment and to maintain during 2005. It was estimated that 1.347 lakh MT
their status symbol. The primary data which collect of e waste was generated in the country in the year
from interviews with various economic classes of 2005, which is expected to increase to about 8 lakh
households, and various categories of business MT by 2012 (Singh, 2013).
entities and institution suggests that the generation
of e-waste in Bhopal city is going to increased day ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
by day, due to high obsolescence rates. The total
electronic waste generated from Bhopal is 950 MT/ The authors are thankful to International
year. The amount generated e-waste in Bhopal is Institute of Waste Management (IIWM), Bhopal for
950980.3 kg/year. This figure increased many fold infrastructure facilities. M.P. Council of Science &
in coming years. Hence, in coming years it urgently Technology, Bhopal is also thankfully acknowledged
required to setup an e-waste collection and treatment for their support.

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