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Challenges remain, when materials cannot or will not be reused, conventional recycling or disposal via landfill often follow. Standards for both approaches vary widely by jurisdiction, whether in developed or developing countries. The complexity of the
various items to be disposed of, cost of environmentally sound recycling systems, and the need for concerned and concerted action to collect and systematically process equipment are the resources most lacked - though this is changing. Many of the plastics used in electronic equipment contain flame retardants. Generally, halogens are added to the plastic resin, making the plastics difficult to recycle.

In developed countries, E-waste processing usually first involves dismantling the equipment into various parts - metal frames, power supplies, circuit boards, and plastics - manuallly. Alternatively, material is shredded, and sophisticated expensive equipment separates the various metal and plastic fractions, which then are sold to various smelters and/or plastics recyclers.

A typical electronic waste recycling plant as found in some industrialized countries combines the best of dismantling for component recovery with increased capacity to process large amounts of electronic waste in a cost effective manner. Material is fed into a hopper, which travels up a conveyor belt, and is dropped into the mechanical separator, which is followed by a number of screening and granulating machines. The entire recycling machinery is enclosed and employs a dust collection system. However, a growing trend in the field of E-waste management is reuse. Reuse is actually preferable to recycling because it extends the life-span of a device. The devices will need to be recycled at some point, they say, but by allowing others to purchase these used electronics, recycling can be postponed and value gained from use of the device. There is no reason to condemn electronics to recycling if they still have value.

Trends in Disposal & Recycling

As the price of gold, silver and copper continue to rise, E-waste has become more desirable. E-waste round-ups are used as fund raisers in some communities. In the 1990s, some European countries banned the disposal of electronic waste in landfills. This created an E-waste processing industry in Europe. The European Union further advanced E-waste policy by implementing the Waste Electrical & Electronic Equipment Directive in 2002, which holds manufacturers responsible for E-waste disposal at the end-of-life.

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Dr. Gursharan Singh Kainth started his career as Lecturer at Post Graduate Dept. of Economics, Government College, Gurdaspur, and later at Khalsa College; Amritsar, specializes in Quantitative & Development Economics. Has the distinction of serving Punjab Agricultural Univ, Ludhiana, for more than 2 decades and remained Director-Principal of Saint Soldier Management & Technical Institute, Jalandhar. Currently, heading GAD Institute of Development Studies, Amritsar, a self-financed research institute. Has been honoured with various awards, including Guru Draunacharya Samman, Vijay Rattan Award, etc.
Article posted on February 22, 2009.