Paper Details

With the advancements in science and technology, the effectiveness of human life has drastically improvedwith different electronic gadgets manufactured for many different purposes. But at the same time this has led to theemergence of the fastest-growing waste stream all around the world known as “electronic waste” or simply e-waste. Ewaste becomes a severe problem because of the very significant health and environmental hazards associated with it. Ifthe electronic goods containing significant quantities of toxic metals and chemicals are left untreated to lie around inlandfills or dumps, they leach into the surrounding soil, water and the atmosphere, thereby generating obvious adverseeffects for human health and ecology. Many elements of the waste are hazardous, as the circuit boards, cathode raytubes, connectors and other elements that are essential for most such goods almost always contain poisonous substancessuch as lead, tin, mercury, cadmium and barium. Among the states in India, the problem of e-waste is very severe inKerala. The emergence of this problem to a great extent is consequential to the nature of its economic development,fuelled by high consumerism. This paper studies about the nature and sources of e-waste, the various methods of disposaladopted and issues related to it.

Meebill C. Mathew, Prof. Johnson K. Joice, “E-waste management practises among households in Kerala”, International Journal of Advance Engineering and Research Development (IJAERD), Vol. 7, Issue 4, pp. 51-56, April 2020.