Electronic gadgets are a primary need of everyone in present world. We can’t imagine our life without computers, laptops, televisions, music systems, cell phones and this list of electronic gadgets around us goes on and on. All these devices have a certain shelf life after which either they require repair, replacement of certain parts or they need to be completely disposed off. At that time we have to deal with the problem of electronic waste.

Electronic waste or E-waste consists of a wide range of unwanted and damaged electronic devices such as laptops, televisions and mobile phones etc. One CPU of a normal desktop computer could contain hundreds of chemicals, including lead, mercury and cadmium. These chemicals are very harmful for the health and could cause fatal diseases like cancer, respiratory problems and skin disorders. These chemicals from e-waste have the ability to contaminate air and soil causing air and soil pollution.

At present, almost three-fourth of e-waste is handled in a very unscientific manner in absence of adequate number of waste disposal/recycling plants in India and also due to the lack of awareness on part of users/consumers. The valuable items are recovered from e-waste either through manual processes or extraction through elementary methods, remaining materials of e-waste is usually are thrown in rivers and drains or burned. Burning of electronic-waste generates a lot of toxic gases.

As per the United Nations University report, 17 lakh tonnes of e-waste was generated in India in 2014. In its report released last year, the industry body Assocham India (The Associated Chambers of Commerce & Industry of India) had claimed that the country's e-waste production may increase to 52 lakh tonnes per annum by 2020.

One very innovative solution to address the problem of e-waste has come from India. Engineers at IIT Madras have come up with a novel technique where e-waste can be used to treat waste water as well as producing electricity. The technologies available in the country at present are generally meant for only recovering and recycling components like glass, plastic, printed circuit board, lead acid batteries and valuable metals. But with this new technology e-waste components like LED\LCD glass could be used as an electrode material in 'Microbial Fuel Cells' (MFCs) which is primarily a technology used for only waste water treatment. Use of e-waste as an electrode, however, helps it to generate electricity and recover metals for reuse.

Praveena Gangadharan and Indumathi M Nambi , IIT Madras the inventors of this solution claim "The basic concept that we use in this study is 'use of waste to treat waste'. The MFC is a pollution free process. It considerably reduces the organic waste treatment cost by producing electrical energy without combustion of fossil fuels".

Solutions like this will help a great deal in not only addressing the problem of handling e-waste but it will also help spread awareness among the masses about the hazardous impact of e-waste on both health and environment. The people will be more aware on how to dispose their e-waste properly without causing too much to damage to the health and environment.

By - Sukhraj Singh Brar - Assistant Professor, Department of ECE, Chitkara University H.P.

References:-

• www.bbc.com/news/technology-32353659
• sustainabilityoutlook.in/news/turning-e-waste-electricity-iit-madras-innovation-waits-takers-758605