NEW DELHI: One in every two people is unaware of what e-waste is. A survey ‘What India Knows about E-waste’ conducted by an environmental NGO Toxics Link that was released on Tuesday revealed that most were unaware about electronic waste and the proper means to dispose it.

E-waste is a term for electronic products that have become unwanted,
non-working or obsolete, and have essentially reached the end of their
useful life.

According to E-waste rules 2011, electronic waste should only be
disposed to authorised agencies. However, Kolkata and Delhi fared the
worst there. Around 93% and 90% of the respondents respectively did not
know anything about the legal framework. The study further brought out that 61% of the people were ignorant about the impacts of its improper disposal.

“If this is the awareness level in the top five cities, imagine the
situation in smaller towns and cities,” said Priti Mahesh, chief program
coordinator, Clean Industry, Toxics Link.
“Lack of knowledge about the repercussions of improper disposal is
leading to most consumers selling the waste to kabaadiwalas or illegal
collectors,” Mahesh added. Around 50% of the respondents directly sell
the electronic waste to kabaadiwalas, the report said.