Electronic waste recycling in South Asia: Overview of associated risks from a cocktail of micro-pollutants and recommendations for sustainable e-waste management
Paromita Chakraborty, R. K., Jabir Hussain Syed, Sarath Chandra, Siddharth Hande, Balram Pokhrel, Emadul Islam, Md Alamgir Miah
Abstract
The surging demand for electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) comes with the predicament of handling waste EEE (WEEE) or e-waste. The situation is even more complicated in South Asia due to the large-scale legal/illegal import of EEE and WEEE, which are handled primarily by the informal sector using rudimentary processes. Based on bibliometric analysis, we shortlisted about 200 articles to outline the country-wise status of e-waste in South Asian countries, challenges with informal e-waste recycling (IER) processes, and associated risk due to a cocktail of micro-pollutants. Precious metal recovery processing IER facilities are hotspots of hazardous substances including micro-pollutants such as toxic metals, plastic additives, polychlorinated biphenyls, perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, and brominated flame-retardants, commonly found in EEE. Additionally, dioxins/furans, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and micro- and nano plastics are released during IER processes. India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan are key contributors to e-waste generation, and urbanized economic centers have significant evidence of a cocktail of aforementioned micro-pollutants having a deleterious impact on the environment and public health. To promote sustainable e-waste management in South Asian countries, we recommend formalizing the e-waste recycling particularly for the metal recovery process, encouraging global partnerships, and incentivizing the extended producer responsibility rules in the region.