India is the third largest electronic waste generator in the world after China and the USA.
Seelampur, a small locality in East Delhi, is one of the largest unorganised e-waste recycling hubs in the country. The unwanted computer monitors, motherboards, cathode ray tubes, printed circuit boards, mobile phones and chargers, compact discs, headphones, and white goods such as plasma televisions, air conditioners, and refrigerators which are discarded here constitute e-waste.
Seelampur has the distinction of having more than 3000 small and big shops for scrapping e-waste. It provides employment to more than 100,000 people.
E-waste is one of the largest, and yet most unorganised, environmental sectors in India. Gadgets discarded by India’s 1.2 billion-strong population account for much of the e-waste processed in Delhi, but there are growing concerns surrounding the increasing amounts of e-waste arriving from other countries, particularly Western nations. In 2019, India’s e-waste production rose almost 2.5 times to 3.23 million metric tonnes in six years, according to the Global E-Waste Monitor Report in 2020.
Hundreds of trucks carry around tonnes of e-waste which later enters into the Seelampur e-waste market. Most of the people working in the area are teenagers, majority of whom do not go to school, but work in the market and earn INR 200 per day.
The workers suggest that their work is limited to segregation of materials and poses no danger, but e-waste can contain some radioactive substances which may prove harmful to the workers. A study by KPMG and the Associated Chambers of Commerce & Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) revealed that discarded computer equipment accounts for almost 70% of e-waste in India, followed by telecom devices and phones (12%), electrical equipment (8%), and medical equipment (7%). Shockingly, there are no health precautions in this business. Workers don’t have protective gear.
India is, however, the only country in the South Asian region with e-waste legislation. But, e-waste management in the country is largely based on informal sector activities primarily concerned with collection, dismantling, and recycling, not the welfare of its workers.
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ARTIQULATE #02
ArtIQulate is a publication associated with the Adenauer Fellowship, a scholarship programme by the Media Programme Asia, Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung Ltd.
Faisal Magray is a photojournalist based in India. His work revolves around documenting global and local issues—primarily focusing on human rights, health, conflict aftermath and socioeconomics.